Lost But Not Forgotten
by CaptainS10
Summary: After being wiped by the People, Artemis Fowl returned to his old, scheming self. It only made sense someone would try to take him out eventually. But Holly was unprepared for it to happen, let alone what came after. When the 16 year old human disappeared from the hospital, the only logical assumption was that he was dead. Or was he? Rating will go up. Spinoff of FMN by Kellycat77.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I'm back again.**

 **So if you read DB and care enough to read the author's notes, this would be the massive story I'm excited to undertake now. (DB will be huge too most likely, so don't worry.)**

 **Now, before everyone starts yelling at me for "stealing ideas" or whatever, let me be clear: Yes, this IS a spinoff of Kellycat77's Forget Me Not. Yes, I DO have her permission. If you don't believe me, message her. Or me. I can show you skeptics the messages. :P I know I was gone for a while, so you all may not remember, but we ARE coauthors. We have a joint account and everything. (I wouldn't recommend checking it out until we do some MAJOR editing though. It has been a few years since we touched any of that.)**

 **So yeah. Just getting that out of the way.**

 **Anyway! Super excited for this story. It will be slightly** **similar** **to hers in spots (or so she tells me - I haven't read hers yet simply so I don't accidentally lean too much towards it). Feel free to shout at me when it happens, but like I said. We all know. We're all on the same page here.**

 **Now, without further ado... enjoy the story!**

2 years post-mindwipe

"Artemis Fowl is dead."

For a moment, the words fell on deaf ears. She was shocked at the news; shocked, appalled, and disbelieving. "What?"

"He's dead, Holly," her godfather repeated. He studied her frozen face carefully before going on, unsure of her reaction. "The courts have declared him legally dead, and frankly I agree. He's gone."

The words still haunted her to this day. Artemis Fowl, dead? It seemed impossible. He'd cheated death before, after all. But this time even she had had to admit that things looked grimmer than they ever had before.

Two years ago, the LEP had mindwiped 14 year old Artemis Fowl of all his People related memories. As a result, he had reverted to his colder, criminal persona. They'd watched him, of course, carefully at first; but in time it became apparent he had no renewed interest in them, so they had returned to only monitoring him routinely.

It seemed stupid, in retrospect, for her to not realize that the worse he got the more likely it was someone would try to kill him. Eventually, someone did, and they very nearly succeeded. If Butler wasn't the great bodyguard that he was, they would have both been dead. As it was they both still ended up in the hospital for days.

It took all her self-restraint to not fly up there and heal the both of them. The only thing that held her back was that Root said no. As much as she didn't like it, she understood why - it was an unnecessary danger to her and the People. So she didn't go.

She regretted that decision greatly now. Because after 5 days in the hospital, Artemis Fowl disappeared.

It seemed totally unfeasible that a 16 year old human with mortal injuries could have just walked out of the hospital. It seemed even more unlikely that someone had managed to abduct him. But either way, it didn't matter. The human had been attached to a dozen different machines. Taking him out of them, let alone out of the hospital, was certainly a death sentence.

She had to face it. Artemis Fowl was gone.

oOoOoOoOo

6 years post-mindwipe

Four years later, there was still no sign of the human. No sightings on the surface, no unusual spikes in activity, nothing to indicate the human might still be alive at all… Until one day, when the one elf who wanted him back the most took a vital surface mission. A mission that changed everything.

oOoOoOoOo

6 years post-mindwipe, 4 years post-disappearance of Artemis Fowl, in the sky above Chicago

Sometimes, Holly Short really hated Recon missions.

All she had wanted to do was go above ground to refill and visit her favorite family of humans, but no - Julius refused to give her a visa unless she did a recon mission first. In general, this would have been fine, so she agreed… but that was before she knew what the mission was. He wanted her to travel all the way to America and back, and to the smoggy, disgusting business area of Chicago no less.

Needless to say, she wasn't very happy. All she wanted to to do was get this mission over with, and get out of this pollution-filled area and back to Ireland. She couldn't wait to get to Fowl Manor and spend the rest of the weekend relaxing with the Fowls.

Holly was a frequent visitor at the manor these days, going up to visit whenever she could. Since the disappearance and supposed death of Artemis Fowl, truth be told, she had been doing her best to visit at least once a month.

Of course, when Artemis had disappeared, the Fowls had no idea about the People, and Butler and Juliet still had no memories of them. But, after the disappearance of Artemis, Root had allowed Holly to go and scope out the manor one last time, just in case it was one of Artemis's famously clever plans and they were falling for the ruse as hard as whoever the intended target was.

As it turned out, they weren't. There was no sign of the teen whatsoever. However, by that point, Butler was back in action, and he apparently still had an armed alarm on Artemis's window. So she got busted by the bodyguard. But that sight of him and the Fowls more miserable than she was was just too much.

She told them everything, and, by some miracle, in light of the recent circumstances, Root had let it go. She still had a badge, and they still had all their knowledge and memories. After all, the Fowls without Artemis were hardly a threat.

"Holly," a voice snapped in her ear, very suddenly pushing all her daydreams from her mind. "Would you pay attention? You're supposed to be surveilling Fission Chips."

Holly rolled her eyes, knowing her godfather couldn't see her. "Foaly, honestly. There's nothing to survey. Spiro is locked up tight and the company is totally legit now."

"I understand, Holly, but it's protocol. The Council wants surveillance, we do it." She could almost hear him rolling his eyes too. "Just at least pretend to watch the computer. Another hour and you can get your things and be on your way."

"On my way to check on Spiro," Holly grumbled. "Which is also a waste of time and resources."

"Hey, I told you it would be easier to do it before, but you didn't listen to me." He crunched a carrot loudly in the background.

She frowned as her own stomach rumbled a little at the sound. Root had stuck this on her at the last minute and now she hadn't eaten for hours. She wished again that she was already at Fowl Manor - which she would have been by now if it wasn't for this stupid mission. The only comfort was that checking on Spiro wouldn't take near as long as this. All she had to do was ascertain the man was still gibbering in his cell, then she could go.

"Eh. It's the quickest thing. Easier to do it on the way back." Holly sighed and leaned back, her hands pressing into the concrete of the roof. "Not much longer now…"

"Nope. Just sit tight." She heard more crunching and clicking in the background of her helmet feed and sighed again, trying to block it out and focus on the screen.

The next hour passed in a blur. The mission was almost entirely pointless and a huge waste of time. There was never anything that could be the slightest cause of alarm; like she'd told Foaly, the company was completely legitimate now, separate from Spiro. Not a single person or object of any potential interest crossed her screen.

Finally, her time was up. She stood up, stretched once, and started to shut down the surveillance equipment.

"See, that wasn't too bad," Foaly commented in her ear.

Holly sighed, packing everything away and straightening. "I suppose not. Just long and boring."

"Well, the next part is quick and easy. Check the bug in Spiro's cell, take the equipment to the drop point, and be on your way."

"Will do."

oOoOoOoOo

The hospital Spiro was being kept in until he regained his senses was, thankfully, not too far from his company. Flying there took less than an hour. The drop point, on the other hand, was farther away. The LEP tried to keep as many ports active as possible, but in more remote cities and locations where there was less chances of discovery. That meant she had to fly all the way to a city on the far outskirts of the state to drop off her equipment and get a shuttle back to Ireland.

It took her less than fifteen minutes to get into the hospital, check on Spiro, make sure Foaly's bug was still active and hidden, and get out. The former business man was - as expected - still locked up and gibbering what appeared to be nonsense in his cell. (It wasn't all nonsense, of course, but no one else knew that.) Then she was on her way to drop off the equipment and head out to Fowl Manor.

She was flying low - shielded, of course - taking in the sights of the cities below her. Humans were such barbarians, on a wide scale, but some of them weren't so bad. And some of the things they could create were just… amazing. Some of them were terrible - like the factories, disposal plants, things like that - but some of the wonders they had created were majestic and beautiful.

The city she was flying over now was very suburban. It was still largely untouched by human poison. There was trees, lots of them, and thick lush forests everywhere. The settlements were clustered into one area, forming a huge city, but once one went out several blocks out of the heart of it, all signs of humans grew more and more scarce, and sporadic at best.

In the heart of one of the surrounding forests was a shuttle port. This was where Holly was supposed to go to drop off her equipment and head back to Ireland.

The area was perfect because it was a smaller, rural city on the outskirts of a larger, more urban one. The LEP loved to set up their ports in places like this, although the reasons were totally unbeknownst to her. She just did her job and didn't argue.

Holly flew low into the woods, unshielding as she got close to the shuttle port. It was small and currently only manned by one person; it was very rarely used and there had never been any incidents here, so security was kept very minimal. The fairy currently stationed there now was a sprite. She had no idea who it was, but she wasn't interested enough to ask at the moment; she just wanted to drop off her things and be on her way.

Unfortunately, she never got that far.

About 200 yards from the shuttle port, Holly had dropped low enough she was skimming along under the treeline, slowly starting to descend the further she got. Then she saw something that made her stop mid-flight, swing up onto a tree branch, and quickly shield again.

It was a human.

What was a human doing all the way out here? The town was - she consulted the GPS in her helmet briefly - 13 miles away! How did he even get here? He couldn't have walked that far, surely. It would have taken hours.

She flew slightly lower, studying the human. He looked as though he had probably ran most of it - he was breathing slightly hard, but not excessively. He was stopped currently, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. He had one headphone hanging out of his ear, but whatever he was listening to couldn't have been that loud or she would have heard it. He looked fit, and slim, and the longer she studied him the more he looked vaguely familiar.

She set her bag with all her equipment in the tree, then flew away from it, a few feet nearer to him for a closer look.

Raven hair… fair skin, but not excessively pale… slim, fit, tall, but not lanky…

And then, as if sensing the movement, the human's eyes shot open. His eyes were bright, blue, brilliant, shining with intelligence.

Holly gasped and threw herself backwards, shocked. She knew those eyes. Artemis Fowl's eyes.

But yet… it wasn't possible… was it? He was dead. He'd been dead for a long time. And what would he be doing all the way out here? This wasn't Ireland. If she'd ever thought there was a chance of finding the supposed-to-be-dead heir somewhere, it would have been in Ireland, or somewhere in Europe at furthest. Not America.

Of course, if it was him, it would explain a lot. They would never have guessed that he would have left Ireland, and it would explain him being here, of all places. Residual memories might have drawn him to somewhere fairy-related, like this shuttleport. But he obviously had never approached close enough to the shuttle port to get caught, so he was either just drawn to it unconsciously, or, if he knew, smart enough not to get too close, which wasn't hard to believe either. He was genius, after all.

At the sound of her gasp, he straightened and pulled out the earbud, pocketing it without looking as he scanned around for the source of the sound. "Hello?" he called cautiously.

Holly silently floated back a few feet, holding her breath. Her heart fluttered in her chest when his eyes skimmed over her several times, never resting but almost always hesitating in her direction. He had been able to pinpoint her direction from the gasp, but not an exact location. _When did he learn to do that?_

"I heard you gasp. I know someone is there. Come out and I won't hurt you." He took a step forward, in her direction, and she ghosted back a few feet again. Logically, he couldn't get her, but that didn't calm her racing heart. Logically, he shouldn't be alive; it seemed nothing was impossible.

Artemis took several more steps forward, slowly, his senses clearly on high alert. Holly held her breath as he continued to approach. He walked past her, but he was only a few feet away. If he could see her, she would still be within his arm's reach. She didn't let down her guard.

The human stopped in place, glancing around. He pivoted slightly, moving closer to her, stopping so close that if she had twitched she was sure he could have seen or heard it. She could feel his body heat radiating off of him. Quickly, she ran a scan on his vitals. While her blood pressure was elevated and her heart was racing, he seemed to be completely calm. It was eerie, and a bit scary, if she was being totally honest with herself. How could he possibly not be reacting? The way he acted, as if his senses were all on high alert, as if he could catch the exhale of her breath even when she wasn't breathing, did not add up with the way his body was reading. He had the heightened awareness of someone having an adrenaline rush with none of the symptoms of the adrenaline.

Suddenly, he turned fully towards her. His hand came up and grabbed her leg, just above the ankle. His hand wrapped completely around it as he pulled her down, smashing her back-first against the ground. The wings cracked and whirred as they died. A gear that had cracked through it cut into her back.

Holly had never expected him to catch her, let alone be this strong if he did. It was Artemis Fowl. Before, he couldn't even support a fairy Neutrino, let alone lift her out of the air and slam her against the ground with enough strength to knock her wits out of her and damage her wings.

She couldn't help the yelp that escaped her when he grabbed her, but by then it was too late anyway. He slammed her against the ground, and she felt the wings crunch under her. At least one gear cut through the set completely and buried itself in her back. She cried out, her shield dropping as her magic automatically diverted to heal her back.

Seeing stars from slamming her head on the ground also, it took her a valuable second to regain her senses and shake her head clear. By that time, Artemis already had her small body pinned with his own and was pulling something out of his pocket. Her vision cleared just in time for her to see what it was: a needle and a syringe with some kind of red liquid in it.

Her eyes widened. "Artemis," she pleaded. She struggled against him, but his grip was too strong for her to escape.

He paused, just briefly, his eyes widening slightly when she said his name. Then he seemed to shake it off, sticking it in her neck anyway and pushing the plunger in.

In seconds, her consciousness was fading. She struggled to hold her eyes open, but it was a losing battle - and one that she was losing fast.

Her eyes fell closed and her body went limp beneath him. The last thing she heard was his exasperated mutter of, "Why can't I ever get a vacation?" before the drug took her under and everything faded to black.

 **That was a bit of an info dump, I know, but I felt like the intro was too short to leave on it's own. So! Like? Intrigued? Please let review and let me know what you think! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, this chapter has a bit of an abrupt ending, because I wrote it all as one constant stream after her waking up and there was no really good place to stop. If I posted it all as one it would have been MASSIVE, so... yeah. Deal with it and I'll post the next chapter soon! In the meantime, enjoy!**

Hours later, Holly started to come around. Her mouth and throat were dry as sandpaper, and her head hurt too bad to even consider trying to open her eyes. She suspected she wouldn't be able to see anything anyway.

She tried to move her arms, but found that they were mostly numb and didn't respond to her attempts. She guessed she was probably bound and had been long enough that her arms had lost all feeling. In fact, as soon as she thought about it, she realized she couldn't feel much of anything besides the pounding in her head.

She wasn't awake for long before she heard a door open from somewhere that sounded far-off because of her pounding head, but in reality she knew couldn't be. Her heart started pounding again. She tried to struggle, but only ended up managing few feeble twitches.

He - at least she assumed it was a he; she hoped it was still Artemis and he hadn't just handed her over to Frond-knew-who - came over and knelt beside her, grasping her chin and tilting her head to the side. She felt his fingers at her neck, checking her pulse. He sighed, his breath tickling her neck, then, much to her surprise, rested his head on her shoulder briefly before pulling away. There was a soft sound that sounded like something being peeled before she felt him brush something onto her arm.

She winced slightly at the feeling and realized exactly what he had done when the blood started to rush audibly in her ears. He'd stuck an adrenaline patch on her to jolt her to her senses. It was smart - it would act quickly and when the rush died down it would be untraceable, unlike any drug or medication. It was effective immediately, and she sucked in a deep breath, opening her eyes slowly.

At first, she couldn't see anything, and she knew she was right earlier when she had guessed she was blindfolded. But then he reached up and pulled the blindfold off. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut again at the harsh light that flooded her eyes, her vision nearly whiting out from the pain of it with her headache.

He sighed. "Headache, of course," he murmured. Holly felt a rush of relief at the sound of his voice, despite the situation - it was still Artemis, at least. "I nearly forgot how hard you hit your head. The blood rushing must make it worse." He got up, walking away for a second before walking back over. "Here. Open your mouth."

In too much pain to argue and figuring he couldn't really give her anything to make it worse, Holly complied, letting him stick a pill in her mouth under her tongue. It tasted like artificial cherry when it melted.

"That will help, if you give it a few minutes. In the meantime…" He got up again, briefly, and suddenly the room got darker. "There. That should help." He knelt beside her again. "Now. Open your eyes."

Slowly, she cracked one eye open, then the other. They were still watery from before. Having the light off helped a lot, though, and she was able to focus on his face after blinking a few times.

"There." He smiled slightly, though it looked strained. "That's better, isn't it?"

Holly just stared at him. Her mouth was still too dry for her to even think about trying to form words, and she was a little too shocked by his kind demeanor to know what to say even if she could speak. Was this really the same boy she'd known? So many similarities, but so many differences, too.

He sighed, shaking his head and going across the room again. She looked around slowly, her head aching too much to move too fast. She seemed to be in some kind of office, but her vision was still too blurry for her to see far away.

The one thing she did notice was that the human was wearing jeans. It was a ridiculous thing to notice in her situation, and if he was trying to start over and be unrecognizable, it made sense he might have started wearing jeans, but… still. Artemis in jeans? It seemed almost like a deal breaker.

He came back over after a minute with a bottle of water. He cracked it open and held it up, pressing the top to her lips. Again her need won out over her apprehension, and she opened her mouth and took a long drink. She finished half the bottle in a few gulps.

Now that her mouth and throat weren't reduced to the texture of sandpaper anymore, she found she could speak again. She cleared her throat and looked at him as he lowered the bottle and put the lid back on it. "Thank you."

He nodded and set the bottle aside. "Of course. I've been sedated with the stuff I gave you with before. It's nasty and leaves you feeling not-so-good when you wake up. Unfortunately, you didn't leave me much choice." He frowned slightly and looked down, his long fingers toying with the bottle.

Holly scowled. " _You_ attacked _me_. I didn't do anything to you."

His gaze snapped back to her, and his eyes narrowed as they met hers. "You were watching me."

"I…" She stopped, realizing she could hardly deny that much. "I guess I was."

"Exactly." He leaned closer, resting his forehead against hers. The closeness made her heart flutter. "So… what did you expect me to do? Not react to the presence of a potential assassin?"

Holly stared into his eyes for a moment before the words registered and her common sense returned. She turned her head away quickly. "Assassin? I'm not an assassin!"

He grabbed her chin, turning her head back to him. The sudden movement sent a pulse of pain through her temple. "Who are you, then?"

She lowered her eyes instinctively when he tried to meet hers, not saying anything because she didn't really have an answer. What do you say to someone you knew who was supposed to be dead, but they're still alive and they don't remember you? Especially in her case? What, "I'm the elf that you kidnapped for gold and then let go and then came back to for help two times. Then I stood by and let my people wipe us from your mind because they thought you were a threat, and I knew you weren't but didn't say anything." And of course the topper would be, "I heard when you got hurt and I stood by and didn't help you when I could have, and then you disappeared and I just let you go and assumed you were dead." That sounded terrible, not to mention totally unexplainable in so many ways, even inside her head. It would probably raise more questions than answers.

In the end, she just sighed. "My name is Holly."

He frowned, and she knew that wasn't what he was looking for. "Well, you know my name, don't you?" She nodded silently. "Are you going to tell me how?" He wasn't sure why he bothered to ask. They both knew the answer before she even shook her head. He sighed, shaking his head and getting up. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way, then." He went over to a desk across the room.

She risked a glance up when she saw him moving, watching him. "The hard way?" Holly repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what I said. If you won't tell me who you are, then I will go through my employers to get your information. And as soon as they find out what happened, the situation becomes out of my hands." He sat down at the table, firing up his computer and looking at her. "I was hoping to be able to deal with you without their help, but now I don't have a choice." He didn't look at her, starting to type on his computer.

"You always have a choice, Artemis," she told him quietly. "Whether you choose to make it or not is your decision."

His hands froze on the keyboard for a second, and he looked over at her, his blue eyes dark and serious. "Unfortunately, Holly, that is not the case this time."

"Isn't it?" She met his eyes, knowing the risks but banking on the fact that he no longer seemed to know.

Artemis frowned, staring at her for a long moment. "It is. Believe me, Holly, I loathe my employers. The last thing I want to do is hand you over to them. But if you won't help me help you, then there's absolutely nothing I can do about it, because the last thing I intend to do is go back into training."

"Training?" Holly repeated.

He nodded, looking back at the computer screen. "Yes. Training. Or more appropriately described as literal living hell."

Holly blinked, her brow furrowing slightly. She wanted to ask what he was talking about, but she knew he wouldn't tell her. She sighed, studying him silently. His fingers flew across the keyboard with almost alarming speed - that, at least, hadn't changed - and he sat straight, not rigidly, but with perfect posture that mirrored his perfect form. But the attitude, the strength, his whole demeanor… it was all different. Honestly, if it weren't for his eyes, that crystalline blue color that she'd never seen before him or ever after, and the little things about him that were just so, well, _him_ , that no one could change, she might have been persuaded to believe that it was someone else. But it was the little things that mattered.

Undeniably, this was Artemis Fowl the second in front of her. Different, certainly, but not unrecognizable. She chewed her lip, thinking. Obviously the human was now under someone else's control - which, in time, might explain why he didn't remember and what happened to him. But how to convince him of that? She wanted to save him again. Could she?

"You shouldn't do that," he said suddenly.

Holly frowned, startled. He hadn't even looked at her or slowed in his typing. She released her lip automatically to answer. "What?"

He glanced at her for a split second. "Bite your lip like that. It can't feel good." He turned back to the computer and pulled away from the keyboard, grabbing the mouse long enough to click it once before getting up and going back over to her.

Holly frowned, surprised he would even notice or care. "It's a nervous habit," she defended automatically. "I don't even realize I'm doing it."

"Well, you should try to catch yourself doing it. You surely can't want to be in more pain than is completely necessary." He leaned over, tugging her lip from between her teeth again.

Her breath caught slightly at his closeness, and she closed her eyes, cursing herself internally. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she breathed, half afraid to open her eyes and meet his gaze. Sure, he didn't remember, but accidents could still happen and she was in a rather vulnerable position here.

She heard him sigh softly from beside her. He ran a hand through her hair, almost tenderly, brushing it out of her face. "Oh, Holly," he murmured, sounding almost regretful already. "We both know exactly what I mean."

Holly swallowed thickly, her heart starting to race again. He must have sensed her fear, because he got up, moving away from her. "Not now, of course. I won't torture you unless they say it's necessary, but I'm sure they will. My people are incredibly hungry for information, and as you seem to be less than forthcoming, I will likely be forced to do it eventually. But until I get word back from them, I give you my word I won't hurt you."

 _His word_. Another little sign. Artemis may not have always told the truth - let alone the whole truth - but all the times he had promised her something or another, he had been sure to make it happen. Her mind flashed briefly back to cutting off Spiro's cousin's thumb to retrieve the C-Cube, and the dark, regretful look on the boy's face as he had assured her it was necessary.

She shook it off, opening her eyes and looking at him. The look on his face now as he stared down at her, regretful and perhaps even a little wistful, didn't do much to help her shake the memory. She sighed. "I believe you."

"I know." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked down at her, his expression thoughtful and slightly pained. He was clearly debating something. After a moment, he finally looked away and heaved another sigh. "I want to treat your wounds," he blurted suddenly. "If I untie you and take you out of here, are you going to fight me?"

Holly blinked at him, slightly startled at the outburst. That was the last thing she expected to hear. And she'd honestly forgotten about her wounds, what with her whole body being numb and all…She'd expected her magic had healed them, but apparently not. She must have ran out. "Fight you with what, my numb fists?"

Artemis chuckled, but it sounded strained. "You'll regain feeling when I release you, Holly. Including in the wounds, but… that wouldn't have stopped me, and I doubt it will stop you, either. So I ask again." He met her eyes. "Are you going to fight me if I release you?"

Holly swallowed, resisting the urge to lower her eyes again. It was _so_ close to an order, but it wasn't, and if she kept avoiding his gaze he was going to realize something was up. "No," she said, after a moment of contemplation. "I won't fight you." Not because the pain would stop her, like he'd said, but because she didn't want to hurt him. But he didn't have to know that.

Artemis nodded, returning to her and unsnapping the cuffs that kept her chained to the filing cabinet. As he lifted her up, she suddenly realized what she was bound to and blinked in surprise. "Why…?"

He chuckled, lifting her up. "Vacation, remember? I don't have access to my normal tools and things here. There really wasn't any place to put you." He shrugged, looking down at her. "As small as you are, I figured the likelihood of you tipping that thing over was pretty low. Not enough leverage and too awkward of a position… besides, my office is always the most secure place wherever I go." He stopped as they approached the door, shifting her to push it open.

He carried her out of the office. Holly looked around, not speaking, trying to get some idea of the floor plan of where they were. The office led out to a living space, and she could see two more doors on the opposite walls, but not where they led to as they were both closed. He didn't give her much time to see, anyway, moving straight for the stairs and carrying her up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so this chapter is still massive, despite my splitting it in two. Apologies for that. There was no really good place to end it and I felt like putting all the filler-but-not-really-type stuff into one chapter would just make it better in the long run. There's also a lot of Arty and Holly talking and not so much of the action, but that is coming in the next chapter, I promise. In the meantime, enjoy! :)**

He took her into a bedroom, laying her down on the bed gently. By now her limbs had started to tingle faintly from being jostled and shifted as he carried her, and Holly whimpered softly as the shudders started to wrack her small form as her limbs came back to life.

Artemis stepped away, looking down at her with something like pity in his eyes. "It'll go away soon. I think, in the meantime, I can leave you here while I get supplies." He offered her a small smile and went into the next room.

Holly sighed, watching him go. Her whole body was shuddering violently - her arms had been drawn above her, her legs folded under her butt, and her body stretched up enough to be able to be bound to a handle on the cabinet, thus rendering her completely numb after several hours. As her limbs regained feeling, pain set in. She could feel something that felt like cold water trickling down her back - a muscle pain, or fresh blood she couldn't feel entirely?

Artemis returned just as her shuddering began to teeter to a stop. Holly lifted her hand, looking at it and flexing her fingers experimentally as Artemis reappeared. He grasped her hand, squeezing it lightly and quirking a brow. "Are we going to have an issue now that you can feel your limbs again?"

She thought about it, looking at him and then back at their conjoined hands. He had surprisingly warm, smooth fingers for someone who still looked like a walking corpse. She sighed. "No. I promised."

"Good." He released her hand, setting a small tub of water on the nightstand beside the bag and tossing a rag in it. "Arms up."

"What?"

"You heard me. I can't clean the wounds on your back with your clothes over them." He held up a hand to stop her when she opened her mouth again. "It's nothing I haven't seen before, Holly," he interrupted. "If you'd take the damn thing off you'd see I already bandaged you once while you were unconscious, and at any rate, I'm hardly a stranger to seeing breasts as a twenty year old man." He flashed her a dangerous smile when she blushed and gaped at him. "Off."

Still flushing, Holly sat up - with considerable discomfort now that she could feel where the gears had cut into her back - and lifted her arms weakly. Artemis smirked at her, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it up and off. He tossed it aside, and she didn't even get the chance to protest before he'd unsnapped her bra and pulled it off too. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Holly covered herself with her arms instinctively. Somehow, despite feeling uncomfortable undressed in front of him, seeing his cockiness was also soothing. It just seemed more….well, _Artemis_ than the odd kindness he'd been treating her with. She decided not to answer but for shaking her head, and didn't resist as the human took her shoulder and pushed her down gently onto her front.

There was a soft hissing sound of metal coming free, but before Holly could even react the knife was at her back, slicing off the bandages. Holly hissed softly as he peeled the bandages away from her wounds. It suddenly occurred to her that the gears staying in her back and running her out of magic was probably a good thing - how would she have explained the broken wings and the absence of wounds after the fact? Which reminded her…

"What happened to my-"

"The mechanical wings?" Artemis shrugged, picking up the rag and wringing it out. "Destroyed. I kept them, but they were in pieces anyway."

"What about the rest of my things?" She'd expected it, but she couldn't help the hiss of pain that escaped through her teeth as he started cleaning the wounds on her back.

He put a hand on her shoulder to pin her down and dabbed at the wounds gently. She had two particularly long, deep cuts on her back from gears that had cracked through the wings and gotten buried in her back, and dozens of smaller scratches from other, smaller ones that just hadn't lodged in her back. He was trying to be gentle, but that didn't make it hurt any less. "I have it all, Holly. Locked away until I hear back from my employers about what to do with you permanently."

Holly sighed at the mention of his mysterious employers again. It occurred to her that he'd never actually said their names or what he did; he just kept calling them that. His employers. She rested her head on her arms, closing her eyes. "Why do you call them that?"

"What? My employers?" He sounded surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"That's just… literally all you've said." She bit her lip. "No real names, no company name... you haven't even told me what it is you do, except for threatening to torture me."

Artemis sighed from above her, dipping the bloody rag into the tub and wringing it out again. "Holly…" He sounded distinctly uncomfortable for the first time. "I see no need to put a name on what I do, that's all. And I couldn't tell you anything about my employers even if I wanted to."

"Can't or actually don't want to?"

"Both," he admitted.

"Why? Don't trust me?" she murmured, almost teasingly.

"I have no reason to trust you, and unless you give me one, I won't. But that won't happen. You won't be around long enough." He almost sounded a little sad at the end.

Holly turned her head and looked up at him. "What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what I said." He shrugged, returning to cleaning her wounds. "I don't trust anyone, Holly. I can't afford to. And as for you… well, you have few options from here, let's just say. And none of them involve being around me long term."

"Can you tell me what they are?" she asked softly.

The human paused, then shook his head. "No." He hesitated for a moment. "Well, not with you unbound, anyway."

"Why not? I won't try anything." She looked up at him, biting her lip.

Artemis looked down, meeting her gaze for a moment and sighing. He reached down and tugged her lip out of her mouth gently. "Don't do that. And… I should hope not, considering the amount of pain this appears to be causing you. You'd probably discover that you can't walk, either, if you tried."

"What? Why?" She frowned, moving both of her legs slightly experimentally. To her surprise, she suddenly realized when she moved it that her ankle ached dully.

"I broke your ankle," Artemis admitted. "When I grabbed you and slammed you, it… well… snapped."

"Oh." She rolled it experimentally again and winced, realizing it really did hurt now that she had moved it. "Ouch."

"I would apologize, but I'm afraid I find it a necessary evil at this point in time." He sighed, putting the washrag back in the bucket of now bloody water and dabbing her back with a towel. "I will give you some pain meds, but I will not splint it."

Holly sighed. She did find that mildly irritating, especially because the last thing she intended to do was try to run - it was likely foolish, but it was true - but she also realized the logic in what he was doing, at least in his mind. In a human, it might easily lead to irreparable damage, but she was not human, and as soon as she refilled her magic she'd be fine, so she let it drop. "Fine. I understand."

"Good." He pulled her back into a sitting position gently and turned her, dabbing some medication on her wounds. Her arms automatically covered her chest again. Artemis didn't comment on it for a moment, although he did roll his eyes at her back. "You're going to have to put your arms down for me to wrap this, you know."

"I could wrap it," she murmured, looking down. She knew she was blushing, and she couldn't help feeling slightly sheepish, although _why_ exactly she wasn't sure.

"I'm sure you could, but not without considerable discomfort to you which is not necessary." She didn't answer, and he sighed, squeezing her shoulder. "Come now. Don't be a prude."

"I am not a prude!" Holly hissed, flushing even deeper.

"Then let me bandage you up and quit acting like you are. Surely you've realized that if I was going to do something to you I'd have done it by now. You'd have woke up in my bed and not chained to a cabinet." He rolled his eyes.

Holly frowned, but she knew he was right. Slowly, she lowered her arms, folding them in her lap but held far enough away from her body he could wrap the bandage around her easily.

"Thank you." He sat behind her, lean in close and starting to wrap the bandages around her torso. Her breath caught slightly at the feeling of his breath brushing her sensitive ears - his head was hovering above her shoulder, his mouth just a few inches from the shell of her ear, allowing him to look back or down to see what he was doing easily. She could feel the heat radiating off his body and was struck again by the fact that he was so _warm_. For someone who looked like a walking corpse, he was a space heater.

The tips of his fingers pressed gently into her back above one of the wounds, just for a few seconds, to pin the bandages in place. She inhaled sharply as a tingle of both pain and something else ran down her spine at the feeling.

Artemis's nose brushed against the side of her head once, his warm breath millimeters from her ear. "There," he murmured. "All better?"

Holly exhaled slowly. "Not exactly, but… thank you."

"Of course." He stood up. "No need for you to be in more pain than absolutely necessary, right? Besides, I definitely don't want you getting an infection on me."

"Yes, it'd be terrible if I died from, say, blood poisoning and not on your employer's time table, right?" Holly muttered sarcastically. He hadn't directly said that, but then he didn't really have to, either. What else could come after the proposed torture?

Artemis flinched slightly, his face closing off quickly. "I…" he stopped, looking away.

"Don't. I'm not stupid, Artemis." Holly stood up, grabbing her clothes off the floor and slipping them back on. "I may not know entirely what's going on or why, but I know it won't end well for me."

He nodded, looking down. He looked almost pained. "Look, Holly… I don't like it anymore than you do, okay? I didn't exactly choose to do what I do. And I hate it. I hate _them_. But I don't have any choice but to do it."

"Why not?" She pulled her shirt back on, sitting in front of him on the bed. It pained her to see him like this. The great Artemis Fowl II, practically enslaved by someone else by… fear? It had to be. To see the formerly independent, fearless, cold, calculating genius reduced to this…

Well, it wasn't even fair to say that. Not all the changes were bad. His personality, for instance. She was certain she wasn't seeing anything that he hadn't felt before; it was just formerly buried behind his cold, calculating exterior, carefully hidden from view. Now he had no problem showing it. And physically, the changes were huge. He obviously didn't have the strength or coordination of a toddler anymore, and that was good. But how had he gotten that way?

Training. He'd mentioned training. That had to be it. But any training that he was going to describe as a living hell definitely wasn't the kind that he had deserved or volunteered to be in.

Artemis sighed, shaking his head and grabbing the tub of water. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" she repeated again. He didn't answer, walking around the bed and disappearing into the door again. This time he left it open enough for her to see that it was clearly a bathroom, and he walked to the sink and dumped the bloody water down the drain. She wrinkled her nose. "Seriously, Artemis," she called to him, flopping back on the bed and looking at the ceiling. "I told you I'm not stupid. You're going to kill me, and I get that. But I see no reason why you can't tell me when we both know I'm not leaving here alive."

Artemis came back out a minute later, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it for a moment, looking at her contemplatively again. "If that's really what you think, why aren't you panicking?" he asked, looking honestly curious.

In truth, she wasn't sure. She probably should be. It wasn't as if she didn't know the likelihood of her escaping him was low - she only had during the Fowl Siege because he'd decided to let her go, after all - or what he was going to do to her. No, he'd made it blatantly obvious. And it wasn't like she wasn't scared at all. She certainly was. But the idea of trying to escape just seemed foolish, and honestly… well, if one of them had to actually be dead, she would gladly let it be her. Her only regrets would be not getting to say goodbye to her friends or let them know that he was actually alive.

She looked up, meeting his eyes, watching him search her face with open curiosity. The urge to tell him everything rose in her throat, but she quashed it. If he wasn't reporting everything to these mysterious employers of his, but… she couldn't risk her people like that.

She just shrugged, turning her gaze back to the ceiling. "I… just… don't see the point," she said at last.

From her peripheral vision she could see that he didn't look convinced, but he didn't push. Instead, he walked over and scooped her up again.

Holly blinked, wrapping her arms around his shoulders instinctively. "What are you-"

"You can't walk, remember?" He shot her an amused look.

"Okay…. But where are we going?"

"To the kitchen. You've got to be hungry by now." Artemis looked down at her and mirrored her expression when she raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

She shrugged. Honestly, she hadn't really thought about it. She should feel hungry, by all rights - she had been starving when she left for the shuttle port, after all - but she'd just had more important things on her mind, she supposed. Besides, her appetite was pitiful at best of late. Even if she felt like she was starving, she wouldn't be able to eat more than a few bites. "I'm just… not that hungry."

Artemis frowned. "You will eat," he told her, his voice somewhere between scolding and warning. It softened slightly as he spoke again. "Who knows when I'll feed you again?"

She could tell he was trying to lighten the mood with a joke, but the question was all too close to being serious to actually have the desired effect. She frowned too, looking away.

The human sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry. That was… probably uncalled for," he muttered. He set her down on a stool in the kitchen, walking over and opening the fridge. "Anyway, since you're not very hungry, I'll keep it light. Chicken noodle soup?"

"Er…" Holly looked at him and fidgeted. "Do I get the choice to tell you I'm vegetarian as a hostage?"

Artemis laughed. "Well, since I'm being a very accommodating captor… I suppose we can have vegetable soup instead." He smiled softly at her.

She flushed slightly but smiled back. "Thanks," she murmured, looking down, her mind spinning. Vegetables. He'd told Juliet to give her vegetables during the siege, too… Was it possible it was residual, or just him actually being considerate? Was she seeing connections where they weren't any, desperate to connect the man in front of her with the boy she hadn't been able to save?

He didn't reply, turning to the cabinet and grabbing two cans of premade vegetable soup and cracking them open. Holly made a face, but didn't comment. Real vegetable soup would have taken hours, and she didn't want to wait that long anyway.

It was silent as Artemis put the soup in bowls and stuck them in the microwave. Holly stared silently down at her hands, fidgeting with her ring unconsciously and biting her lip. Suddenly Artemis sighed, and she looked up to see him push off the counter and walk over to her.

He came to a stop in front of her and shook his head, looking exasperated. "Stop that," he scolded, tugging her lip from between her teeth again.

Holly flushed. "Sorry. Nervous habit."

"I know. And unfortunately you're right to be nervous." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "After we eat, I'm going to have to lock you up again."

"Why?" She frowned. Logically she knew why, but she felt she hadn't done anything wrong to merit being bound up again. Her back ached at just the thought.

"Because. I have things I have to do tonight and in the morning and I can't leave you unbound."

The microwave beeped, and Artemis went over to it, getting out their bowls and setting them on the table. He grabbed them both spoons before settling down beside her.

Holly took the proffered utensil and sighed, stirring her soup absentmindedly. She could only imagine what he had to do when he was supposed to be on vacation. Was it because of her that he had to do stuff? Or would he had to of anyway? She found herself wondering again what exactly he did and who he worked for. "So," she said suddenly. "You managed to effectively distract me earlier with talk of food. Will you answer my questions now?"

Artemis had just taken a bite of his soup. He shot her a look, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and sighed. "Holly, I don't want to discuss this with you. I don't like talking about what I do, and I honestly couldn't tell you anything about the people I work for anyway. Can't you just let it drop?"

Holly met his pleading gaze and sighed. "Fine. If you at least tell me what's going to happen to me."

"I can't tell you something I don't know."

"Fine, you don't know for sure. Earlier you said there were a few different options. Tell me what they are." She crossed her arms, watching him and waiting.

Artemis frowned, looking down at his soup. "You really want to know?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Fine." He sighed, sitting up and turning to look at her. "Okay. So what happened in your case is this. I captured you, for whatever reason, and then I tried to get you to tell me what I needed to know, and you wouldn't. So I had to tell my employers about you and have them use their resources to find out who you really are and why you were following me. Best case scenario, you come back clean. I erase your memories, and depending on what comes back on where you're from and who knows you're missing… you might get to leave, or you might get sent into training." He met her gaze, his blue eyes dark and serious. "Worst case scenario, you don't come back clean. I torture you for information, and when you've been wrung dry, you'll either be sent into retraining, or I will kill you."

Holly gulped thickly. Her throat and mouth suddenly felt dry as sandpaper again, and she searched his face, looking for any sign that the human could just be messing with her. She found none. "So this training…" She stopped, hearing her voice shudder and clearing her throat. "That's the literal living hell we talked about earlier, right?"

Artemis pressed his lips together in a thin line and nodded, watching her closely. She took a shuddering breath, holding it for a moment before releasing it. "I… see," she breathed at last.

He nodded again, turning back to his soup. "That's all that can happen, Holly," he muttered. "And that's why I wasn't going to tell you. Now eat your soup."

Holly licked her lips, looking down at her soup. She stirred it slowly, feeling her already low appetite shrinking even more. There was no way she was eating any of it without being sick. "I can't."

"Fine." He stood up suddenly, grabbing her arm and hauling her off the stool. He dragged her back in to his office, pushing her onto her knees in front of the filing cabinet. Holly was too stunned by the sudden actions to resist. She fell heavily onto her knees in front of him, looking up at him as he chained her back to the cabinet again with a pair of handcuffs.

"Artemis-" Holly started, but he stopped her.

"Don't, Holly." He tied the blindfold around her eyes again, and she frowned, but didn't resist. There wasn't much point in it now. She felt him step back, felt his eyes sweep over her again, sending a tingle through her body. He sighed. "I'll see you in the morning," he muttered, his tone suddenly more gentle again and laced with exhaustion. She opened her mouth to try to speak, but before she could find words his footsteps start moving away, and the door slammed closed behind him.

Holly closed her mouth abruptly, stunned. That had taken a turn mighty quickly. But why? Did the idea of hurting her really upset him that much? Or was it just something else?

She tried to quash the spark of hope in her chest before it could get out of hand. But it was already there. Perhaps it was foolish to think that his demeanor or his being upset had anything to do with her, but the hope that it did refused to go away.

Holly sighed and sat back. There wasn't anything to do now but wait until morning and see.

 **Whew! That was kind of massive, wasn't it? What did you guys think? I know it was kind of a mix of dark and light, with some fluffy/funny moments and then some darker parts of their talk too. That's basically the path this story is on, so fair warning. Also, the next few chapters will likely get dark and gut-wrenching, so... you've been warned.**

 **On that note, any guesses on what's going to happen to Holly? Can Arty go through with... well, any of the options? Take a wild guess and see! (Or if you've read Kellycat's version, it might be more educated than wild, but... It's not the same, I'll tell you that much!) ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a quick note: this is the first chapter that gets into the dark, nitty-gritty stuff. The rating has not jumped quite yet, but it will shortly. That said, it is torture, so if you don't think you can handle that, don't read it. You've been warned.**

Holly slept fitfully against the cabinet all night. She woke up suddenly in a cold sweat several times, panicking for a moment before reality settled in. Not that reality was much different than the night terrors she'd been having, but she somehow welcomed it. Even an Artemis who was alive and hurting her was better to her than a dead one.

It was early the afternoon the next day, when she was just dozing off after one of these fits (as she had no perception of time and nothing to do, she was simply resting) when the human returned to his office. He barged in and slammed the door shut, making her yelp and jump, her eyes shooting open under the blindfold.

There was a brief pause before he stormed over to her, ripping off her blindfold. Holly flinched and looked up at him, her eyes wide. He was radiating anger, but at what she wasn't sure. "Ar-"

"Stop," he ordered, looking her right in the eyes. Holly stopped immediately, swallowing thickly. He brandished a thick manila file at her with her full name written across it. "Do you know what this is?"

"My file?" she offered weakly, unsure what she was supposed to say.

He snarled lightly, slamming it down on the desk. "Damn right it is. Do you know what's in it?"

Holly shook her head, her heart thundering in her chest. She didn't know, but his demeanor was enough to tell her it wouldn't be good. "I'm not clean, am I?" she whispered.

Artemis took a breath to steady himself that dissolved into a sarcastic laugh. "Hardly. You're the furthest thing from it I've ever had." He leaned against his desk, looking at her. "So. I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me everything, Holly. If you were smart, you would take it."

"And if I do?" She looked up at him, biting her lip.

"Then I'll kill you now, and it will be a hell of a lot less painful." Artemis told her bluntly.

She flinched, looking down and taking a deep breath. She knew what she had to say, but the fact that she wanted so desperately to tell him didn't make it any easier. "I…" She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. She thought she saw a spark of hope hidden in the depths of his eyes, but it was extinguished immediately when she spoke again. "I can't."

Artemis inhaled sharply, looking away. She watched his eyes flutter closed for moment, taking a few breaths to steel himself. Then he straightened up completely and turned back to her. Holly stifled a gasp when his eyes met hers again. They were cold, hard as ice, and utterly mercilious. All traces of the man she'd seen yesterday seemed to be gone. It was like looking at a totally different person.

He crossed the room to her in a few long strides, kneeling beside her. He grabbed a handful of her hair, tugging her head back harshly. "I'm going to ask you this one time before I do anything else," he told her, his voice devoid of emotion. "You have one chance to answer me with the truth. Understand?" Holly nodded as best she could against his tight grip on her hair. He leaned closer, until his nose brushed hers. "What's the LEP?"

Holly gasped, her eyes widening. "That's not possible," she whispered, almost to herself. There was no system on or under the Earth that could backtrack the LEP. Even if they already knew of its existence, they still wouldn't have the technology to find it. And how would they even have found it? How did a search on a human company through the human intelligence agencies give her real information when she didn't legally exist?

"Apparently, it is," Artemis told her sharply. "Now, you've got ten seconds to start talking before I get tired of waiting for you to think of a lie to tell me and start forcing you to tell me the truth."

Holly looked at him, blankly, her eyes wide and wet with shock, fear, and a million other emotions that swarmed her all at once. She had no doubt he'd do it. But why? And how? Was there any point in fighting him? Did they already know about her people?

No, she had to proceed under the assumption they didn't. For all she knew, some human tourist with a camera had accidentally snapped a picture of an LEP officer and posted it online, and they were just shooting in the dark for connections. All fairies carried enough of the same basic characteristics that it wouldn't have taken leaps and bounds in order to connect her with any photos or random, banished pixies stuck on the surface.

"I can't," she repeated, softly, closing her eyes.

"What was that?" He leaned closer, pretending not to hear her and give her one more chance to give in.

"I can't." She looked up at him. "I won't tell you what the LEP is."

Artemis sighed and pulled away. "Fine. As you wish." He unlocked her handcuffs, lifting her up and tossing her over his shoulder. Her body was completely numb again, and so she went with no resistance, limp as a sack of potatoes. She rested her forehead against the center of his back as he carried her out, taking deep, steadying breaths. There was no point in panicking or going to pieces. It wouldn't change anything...right?

In truth, he didn't want to torture her. But his orders had come in this morning, and they were crystal clear as to how she was to be treated and how long he had to break her. He liked her, despite his better judgement, and he felt some odd, inexplicable connection to her, but it couldn't change anything. His fear of his employers by far outweighed any guilt he felt over what he was doing. Besides, in the grand scheme of things, what he was going to do to her was merciful. If he refused, not only would he likely be thrown into training again as punishment, Holly would be turned over to them completely. And the kind of torture one received down there made what was in store for her look like a cakewalk.

He passed right through the bedroom and carried her into the bathroom adjoining it. Not even bothering to strip her, he pulled her arms above her head and bound her to the top of the shower, letting her hang limply while he stepped out to get tools. Holly waited, biting her lip. She was shaking, but she dared not say or do anything.

Artemis came back a moment later with a switchblade and something that looked like a toy wand. He had taken off his shirt and pants, leaving him only in a pair of shorts. Holly's eyes widened slightly at the sight as she looked him over. Thin white scars littered the man's body, which was smooth and toned and muscular in a way she would never have imagined it possible for him to be four years ago.

He chuckled coldly when he saw her checking him out, reaching up to tie a blindfold over her eyes again. "Like what you see?" he whispered in her ear.

"Maybe," she whispered, closing her eyes under the blindfold. Her heart was thundering against her ribs. In truth, she was horrified at seeing what they, unquestionably, had done to him; no wonder he refused to discuss them. If that was what the "training" they'd talked about had done to him… "Artemis, I-"

"Unless you're going to start talking already, it's probably in your best interests not to speak," he interrupted. "Because frankly, if you start trying to piss me off, this is going to be a hell of a lot worse than it needs to be."

She heard the water start, and felt it start to pour down on them like rain, and then his hands at her collar, with surprising gentleness, lifting the front of her shirt and slicing it open. Her heart pounded as he stripped her, slowly, exposing the front of her body to him. "Artemis-"

This time he didn't have to speak to cut her off. He drove the knife into her stomach, and she cried out, whatever she was going to say driven from her mind by the sudden pain. He twisted it into her, his hand on her back pushing her forward as he drove it in deeper, and she moaned softly.

He jerked it free suddenly and released her, and she fell heavily against the wall. Pained tears and shower water had both her and her blindfold already soaked, and she shuddered violently. She barely had a minute to breathe before she felt a wet rag slap over her face, and her eyes flew open under the blindfold as she struggled to draw a breath.

Artemis held it for a moment until her struggling started to die, then released her, watching her suck in air greedily with grim satisfaction. He was not enjoying this as much as normally might have, admittedly. This was why he usually didn't interact with his victims at all. He didn't want to know them; it made what he had to do all the harder. The fact that she seemed to know him didn't help at all. He felt like he was betraying her somehow, ridiculous as it was.

Holly hung limply, feeling her lifeblood drain out of her. She knew he wouldn't kill her, of course - not yet, at least - but that didn't give her much hope.

He stabbed the knife into her thigh, twisting it. She screamed as it pierced her bone. She could both hear and feel her femur shattering as he twisted the knife into it like a drill head. Artemis winced at the sound, but didn't stop, dragging the knife down with it still buried in her thigh. She screamed again.

Artemis pulled it out, hissing through his teeth as he slapped the rag over her face again. This was hard. Too hard. He didn't know how much he could manage. It just felt so… wrong.

Holly thrashed violently against him despite the pain. Her lungs burned, her whole body hurt, and she could feel herself fading fast. She was winning - she hadn't broken yet - but it sure didn't feel like it.

Artemis pulled away for a moment, studying her. She couldn't take much more in one sitting. He shook his head, covering her face again, this time not pulling away until she'd gone completely limp. Then he pulled away. Her chest heaved, but she didn't move. She was unconscious.

He sighed, tossing the rag in the hamper and looking down, watching her blood wash down the drain. He shook his head. It really was a pity.

He shut off the water and got out, leaving her there.


	5. Chapter 5

Holly eventually came around late that evening. Two things struck her immediately. The first thing was that she was no longer in the shower; she was bound by her wrists to the frame of the human's bed, wearing one of his shirts. The second was that she wasn't in any pain.

How? She looked over herself quickly, testing her bonds and flexing her legs. Strange. She ached, granted, her leg especially, but she wasn't in an extreme amount of pain. How? Her femur had been shattered completely, she was certain of it. No amount of bandages or pain medication would have made her not feel that. Unless… no. She was out of magic. There was no possible way she'd been healed….right?

She looked up at her bonds, testing them again. A simple length of rope was all that kept her wrists bound to the headboard. This was ridiculous. She could escape easily; he hadn't given her any orders, least of all to stay. But she knew she wouldn't. She couldn't risk them pursuing her and accidentally leading them straight to her people… at least that was what she would tell herself. In truth, she just didn't want to leave Artemis. It seemed like a long shot, at this point, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try to save him.

The bedroom door opened, and Artemis stepped in. He looked bad, almost sickly. His skin seemed paler than usual, and he had dark bags under his eyes. Even his normally brilliant blue eyes seemed a little foggy. It was like torturing her had physically drained him.

He rubbed his eyes as he entered and shut the door, blinking a few times before settling his gaze on her. He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down, almost cautiously, looking her over. "You're awake." He sounded tired and uncertain.

She frowned at his tone. This was not the same human she had just been faced with in the shower, nor even the same one she had woke up to the first time. Well, perhaps the latter, if a tired and weaker-looking version. "Yeees," she held out, eyeing him carefully.

Artemis sighed. "How do you feel?" He got up, walking over to the window and looking out. Holly shifted uncomfortably.

"Surprisingly good, actually," she admitted. "How did you…?"

He turned silently to a cabinet, opening it up and pulling out a black case. He unlatched it and turned it towards her silently, showing her what was inside. It had at least a dozen tubes rolling around inside of it that contained some kind of sparkly blue substance. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight.

Magic. Those were shots of magic. She didn't know how they'd done it, but somehow they harvested magic from a fairy and contained it to be used at will. Suddenly her lack of injuries made sense, in a bad way.

Artemis was watching her carefully for a reaction. "I get a new case of these with every assignment," he told her. "They gave me more than usual, for you, since they want so much information out of you." He closed the case, starting to put it away. "I gave you a shot of it after you passed out. You might be sore still, since there's only so much in one of them, but otherwise…" He shrugged, closing the door and turning back to her. "You're good as new."

Holly was still staring at him, blankly, lost in her horror. How had they done that? They almost had to have a fairy captive, forcing whoever it was to refill and harvesting the magic from them. Or maybe they were just abducting someone every full moon, letting them perform the ritual and taking it from them then and letting them go again. The latter seemed less likely, although it could still be possible. But if it were the former… who would they have? The People lived underground, and the LEP kept extremely accurate records. There was only a handful of people who had disappeared without a trace in history. There were exiles, of course, but unless they were somehow harvesting magic from their blood, none of them were eligible, as they had all forfeited their magic. So who?

"How?" was all she managed to say.

Artemis shrugged. "Hell if I know. It's not exactly my area of expertise." He crossed his arms. "It's not for you to worry about, anyway."

"It's not-" Holly sputtered, then stopped. A thought occurred to her suddenly, and her eyes widened. Was she resisting for nothing? "Artemis. Why are they making you torture me for information they already have?"

"What?" He frowned. "Don't be dense, Holly. Of course they're not."

"Yes, they are!" She tried to sit up, but only ended up jerking against her bonds and falling back. "Artemis, listen to me. That… stuff… comes from my people. The only way they could have got it is if they have one of my people. That means they know, don't you understand?"

His brow furrowed, and he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully as he approached the bed. "Holly… I assure you I know nothing about this, and neither do they. If we knew what the LEP was, we wouldn't need you to tell us." He sat at her feet, tilting his head. "What makes you so sure?"

"Because it's magic, Artemis! There's no other place it could come from!"

Artemis chuckled, shaking his head. "It's not magic. It's science. I know that much."

"How? You just said you know nothing about it! Don't you think it's possible?" She leaned forward again, straining against her bonds. "Artemis, please-"

"Don't," he interrupted. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I know you don't want me to torture you anymore, and frankly, I'm not exactly enjoying it as much as I normally might either. But I need this information, Holly. This is life or death - either yours, or both of ours. If I even thought about doing anything but exactly what they'd told me to, we'd both die. Or worse."

She met his eyes and swallowed thickly. His eyes were dark and pleading, trying to make her understand. Those eyes weren't that of the merciless killer he had been just hours ago. Those eyes were her Artemis's, that of the boy she'd lost and found again. And there it was again - that hint of that spark of decency he kept buried so deeply. It was smothered, but it wasn't out. It was fighting; he was fighting. That was why he looked like hell. Some part of him recognized her; all she had to do was play on it.

"Artemis," she started again, carefully, watching him closely. "Listen to me. When I found you, you thought I recognized you, that I knew you. Well, you were right. And you know me. That's why this is happening. It's why you're treating me differently and why this is killing you on the inside and why I haven't even tried to escape yet when I've had multiple chances, albeit with a low chance of succeeding." She paused, licking her lips. "Artemis, please. Just _ask_ them." She sounded desperate, even to her own ears, but she had to know - whether he was still in there or not, and how much they actually knew about her people.

Artemis stared at her, his face impassive, but something in his demeanor shifted slightly at her words. He shook his head, looking down. "Say you're right," he told her, seriously, leaning towards her. "Say I assume, for a moment, you're telling the truth. What proof do you have? Why should I believe you? And don't tell me to ask them, because I'm not going to. Second guessing them, especially on the word of a hostage… that could get me killed, Holly."

She bit her lip, meeting his eyes again. "I know, but… it's my people, Artemis. People you used to know, people you very nearly gave your life for! And don't tell me you don't care, because I don't believe it for a minute," she added when he winced and looked down.

He brought a hand to his temple, rubbing it and frowning slightly. "Holly-"

"No! Artemis, it's true! Please!" She tugged her bonds again. "I can't prove it to you, not now, not like this. The only thing I could do would be to tell you everything and I can't, not if you might not believe me and certainly not if you're going to report it to these employers of yours. I can't risk it, and-"

"Holly!" Artemis snapped again, sharper, and she stopped, staring at him with wide eyes. "Tell me what the LEP is."

"I told you, Artemis, I can't-"

"You can and you will," he told her sharply. He caught her eye again. "Now."

She flinched, surprised, but snapped her mouth shut quickly, biting her tongue as her eyes widened. The words were literally trying to rip themselves from her throat. Unknowingly or knowingly, it didn't matter - he'd just given her an order, and now she had to follow it.

She clamped her teeth around her tongue hard enough to draw blood, desperate to keep the words from escaping. It was so hard it physically hurt, but she resisted.

Artemis watched her struggle with a mixture of alarm and interest. That little tidbit of information had been in her file, but he was trying not to use it, trying to at least give her a fighting chance. It hardly seemed right, on one hand, to put her through more torture than was absolutely necessary when he could just order her to tell him, but on the other hand, it seemed more morally flawed to order her to tell him things, which was an advantage he had never had with anyone else. Besides, she obviously knew that it was something he could use against her, as she constantly avoided eye contact except in unguarded moments like this, thus making it harder for him to use it against her anyway.

He hadn't intended to use it at all, but he'd panicked. When she had started talking about knowing him, about him doing things he had no conscience recollection of doing, the ghost of an image had crossed his mind for a split second before he felt a searing pain in his temple, which was why he'd started rubbing it. Was it possible she was telling the truth? She seemed adamant, and with what had just happened…

Holly had no way of knowing this, but Artemis remembered absolutely nothing about his life before waking up in the bunker. When he'd first arrived, he'd been desperate to know where he'd come from, how he'd gotten there, and anything he could possibly find out about his life before. He found nothing, and trying to force his brain to recall anything only resulted in him experiencing shooting pains through his head, much like he just had. After a few years, he'd stopped trying, and his hopes and desires had dimmed through pain and an expectation of failure.

But what had just happened brought it all rushing back. Was it possible she someone he had known in the past? Was that why this was happening? It would explain how she seemed to know him, and why he felt inexplicable tenderness towards her. He didn't want to torture her. He'd put it down to having more interaction with her than he normally would have with his victims, but maybe this would explain why it made him feel so sick at heart.

He looked at her again, studying her. She was undoubtedly familiar, but… the thought sent another bolt of pain rocketing through his head. He put both hands to his temples, rubbing them gently and meeting her eyes again. "Holly." He sounded weak even to his own ears. "Now."

"Lower Elements Police!" The words finally succeeded in tearing from her throat. She gasped, panting slightly from the effort of holding it back and tasting the blood in her mouth.

Artemis was almost beyond noticing. He'd heard her, but as soon as the words had registered in his brain, a mirage of images had passed through his head, almost too quick to grasp, and then he'd been hit with a bolt of pain so sharp his vision had completely whited out for a second. He groaned, doubling over and clutching his head.

Holly jumped slightly when he doubled over, watching him with wide eyes. "Artemis?" she breathed, her tone laced with worry.

He waited for the pain to pass, regulating his breathing slowly. He'd tried desperately to remember before, but he'd never got anywhere. But now, with just a few words, for the second time in less than an hour, she'd managed to stir something up that he'd never been able to touch.

"I…" was the first thing he managed. He took a deep breath again to steady himself, straightening up slowly. He looked her over again, this time in a new light. She was irritatingly, achingly familiar, more so than before, but still not quite recognizable. "I knew you," he whispered, his eyes wide and almost alarmed.

Holly sat up again. Her arms arched from straining against her bonds, but she paid them no mind. "Yes," she agreed hoarsely. "Yes, you did. And I knew you. We were… friends." She stopped, swallowing thickly.

His throat moved as he gulped, too. His mouth was suddenly dry, and he took a deep breath, pulling a pocket knife from his pocket. He knew what he had to do.

Her eyes widened slightly as he drew nearer, but she didn't flinch, looking up at him and biting her lip. He couldn't look at her as he reached behind her, slicing through the ropes on her wrists and then staggering back. "Go," he told her, quietly, looking at the floor. "Get out of here."

"What?" Holly blurted, unable to hide her surprise. She sat up slowly, rubbing her wrists where she'd burnt them tugging against her bonds. "Artemis, I- no. They'll kill you."

He shrugged, twirling the knife in his fingers almost absentmindedly. "I'll be dead before they find me."

"No!" Holly stood up, grabbing his wrist and taking the knife from him. He made no move to stop her. "You can't. I won't let you kill yourself." She stopped, looking down at the knife and swallowing thickly. "Just… just kill me. I'll tell you what they want to know, and then you can kill me, and they'll leave you alone."

Artemis shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bed. He ran his hands through his hair. "No. I can't and I won't kill you, Holly. Attempting to torture you was bad enough when I had no idea who you were. To do that…"

She tilted his head up. "Do you know who I am?"

He met her eyes steadily. "I know that… I knew you. And that's enough for me." He pushed her back gently. "Go."

She swallowed thickly, staggering back a step. "Come with me."

"No," he repeated, shaking his head again. "If you go, I will die in your place and that will be the end of it. If I go with you, they'll chase us."

"So? At least that's a chance at life!" she protested.

He scoffed, looking away. "That's no chance, Holly. They'd catch us, and that's a fate worse than death. I can't let them do that to your, nor do I intend to ever let them do that to me again." His tone was very cold and certain, matter-of-fact, telling her there was no way to change his mind.

Holly's mind whirled furiously, trying to find a way to convince him. She was no genius, and at this point, she wasn't even sure what she was saying. She was just throwing things out, desperate not to lose him again. "We can go to the LEP! My people can protect us, Artemis. We just have to get to a shuttle port and-"

"Your people haven't done a great job of protecting anyone thus far, Holly, else we wouldn't be in this situation," Artemis interrupted. "Anyway, I'm tired of being dependent on someone else. If I were going to run, Holly, I would be running away, to some _where_ else, not to some _one_ else."

"Then we'll go!" Holly told him. "Just us! We can run, together. Let's go!"

"No." He shook his head. "I'm staying, Holly, and that's final."

She stopped, meeting his eyes again. Her eyes were wide and wet. She was desperate. There was only one other thing she could think of that might sway him at all. She flicked open the pocket knife, pressing it to her throat. "Fine. Then I'm staying too, one way or another."

Artemis blinked, sitting up straight. He narrowed his eyes at her, clearly debating whether she would actually do it or not. He searched her eyes again, saw the pain and determination there, and decided she actually just might. "Don't be ridiculous," he said at last. "Even if you do it, I'll just heal you."

"I'll do it again."

"Good luck with that. I'll tie you up if I have to."

"Then I'll just end up staying anyway!" she shot back.

He stopped at that, frowning. "Holly…."

He was losing and he knew it. Holly bit her lip, trying not to be too relieved just yet. "Please, Artemis," she added, quietly, one more time.

Artemis looked away, then back at her, then away again. "Fine!" he burst out, running his hands through his hair and getting up. He approached her, slowly, and tugged her lip out of her mouth gently. "Fine," he repeated, softer this time. "You win. We'll go. But I have a few conditions."

Holly nodded, lowering the knife slowly. "Anything."

"We go alone - just us. No employers, no LEP, nothing. And you listen to me, without question."

She had started to nod at the first part, but stopped when he said the last bit. "What?" Holly frowned. "Why?"

"Because. These people are dangerous, Holly, and they will chase us. I have experience with this stuff. You… don't."

She wrinkled her nose, thinking. She didn't like it, but honestly, that was something that could be rehashed later, and she wasn't going to argue with him now and make him change his mind. She just nodded silently.

"Alright." Artemis stepped back and offered her his hand, palm up. She took it, and he grinned dangerously. "Let's go."

 **Bam! Talk about surprises. What happens next? Well... I'm not going to answer that.**

 **But, I will say this: settle in, folks. You're in for a loooong ride. We've only just hit the top of the second page of a veeeery long and still incomplete outline, if that tells you anything.**

 **Surprised by anything? Love it? Hate it? Please let me know what you think! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay! So nothing too exciting happening in this chapter. But we're getting there. Promise. :)**

They made quick work of leaving. Artemis was quick and organized - another thing that seemed like something that would be left over, although she had no proof of that particular quirk - and in less than an hour, he'd gathered up all of the stuff he'd taken from her and all the stuff they could possibly need and packed it into a few bags. Holly tried to help the best she could, but she honestly still felt weak and achy, and she didn't know her way around well enough to do anything but get in his way, so she ended up sitting in the living area waiting for him.

He came out of the bedroom after a little while with three bags. One had her stuff in it - the bag he'd confiscated from her with both her equipment and her things for her attempted to Fowl Manor, which now seemed like a distant daydream - and the other two had his things in it. She got up when she heard the door open, and he tossed her her bag unceremoniously. "All set?"

Holly opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off when his phone rang. He pulled it out and frowned, then checked his watch. "Hm…" he murmured, holding a finger to his lips to signal for her not to speak and answering it. "James," he greeted shortly.

Holly blinked, watching him turn and frowning. She honestly wasn't sure if that was supposed to be his name or the name of whoever had called him. It seemed odd that it would belong to either of them, frankly, although she assumed it would be his. On one hand, it made sense - she really should have realized he was going by a different surname, thus making locating him harder - but on the other, trying to picture him as anything other than Artemis Fowl II was just odd. But then, she hadn't been used to the idea of him in jeans either…

Artemis was talking, quickly, but quietly. He hadn't moved from his spot a few feet away, his bags over his shoulder. It seemed less like he was talking quietly to keep her from hearing and more likely that he just was talking quietly out of habit. "I need more time," he was saying. He caught Holly's eye when he realized she was listening, winking at her as he continued, "She's a tough nut to crack, this one."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help a small smile from growing on her face. He was silent for a moment, listening to whatever the other person was saying. "Alright," he said, after a moment, rolling his eyes to the heavens and shaking his head. "Yes, yes, I've got it. Anything is more than what I have right now, so that shouldn't be too difficult once I crack her." He paused, listening, then rolled his eyes again and hung up without saying goodbye.

"Should I be concerned?" Holly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If I was going to continue torturing you? Yes. Now? No." He sighed, tossing the phone on the couch. "Come on. Let's get out of here." He walked to the door, opening it and gesturing for her to go out.

"What did they say?" Holly asked curiously as she walked out. Now that she knew he wasn't going to hurt her anymore, it was more intriguing than scary to hear.

"It doesn't matter now." He threw the keys down and took the cash from his wallet, but left everything else on a stand inside the door. "What?" he demanded at the look she gave him. "God only knows what they have the ability to track. I'm not taking anything more than necessary."

"Where did you get all the-"

"Cash?" He smiled wryly at her. "It's a nasty job, Holly, but it was a job. I did get paid for it. And, call it some odd ingrained superstition, but I always pulled it out in cash after getting paid. It was easier that way. Then they couldn't tell what I actually spent or saved. It just looked like I spent it all."

Holly blinked, surprised. "Well, you clever little Mud Boy. How much did you actually have saved?"

"A lot more than we have time to count," was his only response. "Now let's go. I have a car downstairs."

Holly raised an eyebrow at him. "And you think they can somehow track your wallet but not your car?"

"Oh, I'm certain they can track the car. But they won't think to track it until they call to check on me and I don't answer, and by then we'll have been able to get to a store to get a burner phone that they can't track nor listen to what I'm saying on and that I can rent a different car with." He looked at her and quirked a brow, noting the look on her face. "Done questioning me now?"

Holly just nodded mutely. Suddenly any worries she'd been having about whether he was still a genius or not were gone.

He led her downstairs to the garage where a sleek black Bentley sat waiting in the corner. Holly couldn't help smiling slightly to herself at the sight of it. Of course he'd choose a Bentley.

Artemis glanced at her as he tossed their bags in the backseat and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She shrugged, climbing in the car. "Did you pick your car?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"You had a Bentley before, too. That's all. I'm not surprised you feel safe in it." She looked over at him as he got in. He paused, looking at her thoughtfully.

"How do you know it makes me feel safe?" he asked, obviously surprised, but pleasantly or unpleasantly she couldn't say.

Holly sighed. "Your bodyguard drove a Bentley. It was what you rode in all the time. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you somehow were drawn through residual memories to this type of car, and felt safe in it by association."

Artemis nodded, hiding a wince as several less severe pains shot through his forehead again. He took a second to clear his head before starting up the car and backing smoothly out of the spot. It happened every time she said something that he should know, but didn't remember. That could be irritating and potentially dangerous, he knew, but there didn't seem to be much he could do about it for now.

Holly curled up silently, looking out the window as they sped out of the city. She jolted slightly as Artemis reached down and turned on the radio, startled. He shot her a smug grin and turned it down low so they could talk over it. "So."

"So?" Holly scoffed. "So eloquent."

"That I am." He grinned at her again.

She rolled her eyes. "Are we going somewhere in particular, oh smart and eloquent one?"

"Not currently. Just driving. Trying to put some distance between us and them, far enough that we can get on a plane without being untraceable."

"I see." She leaned back. "And how long do we have to travel for that?"

"At least a few hundred miles. Has to be a wide enough range that we can be gone before they potentially screen all possible hotels and airports to find out where we are."

"So we won't be getting a hotel either."

"Not for a while." He sighed, sitting back. "As soon as we've made it a few hours, I'll stop at a store, get supplies and a burner phone. Then we'll get a rental car, and from there our trail will be hard to trace so long as we continue to switch and don't make many stops."

Holly nodded, chewing her lip and looking out the window. "Sounds… complicated," she murmured.

"It's supposed to be. Just do what I tell you and it'll be fine." He sighed, leaning back in his seat. "I'd like to ask you some questions about my past, but I don't think that's the best idea while I'm driving."

"I can drive," Holly offered.

"Not a chance," he answered immediately.

She frowned. "What? Why?"

"Because. I don't trust you not to take us to the LEP. Besides, I have control issues, if you haven't noticed." He sighed, shooting her a sideway look.

"Oh, I've definitely noticed," Holly huffed, slightly miffed. "Whatever. Your loss of sleep, I guess."

"Yes, in essence. Speaking of which, you may as well get some rest, Holly. We won't be stopping for a long while, and we've got hours of driving ahead of us." He glanced at her.

She sighed and nodded. "Fair enough." She curled up in her seat, leaning it back slightly.

He watched from the corner of his eye. "I'll get some blankets and such to make it more comfortable once we come across the first store that's safe to stop at."

"And how will you know which one is safe?" she asked curiously, looking up at him.

"As soon as we come across as family shop that doesn't have cameras." He shrugged. "Most little stores don't. As soon as one doesn't, I'll go in it."

She had no idea how he thought he could know that, but she decided that it was safer not to ask. She didn't want to hear another lengthy, headache-inducing explanation. She just trusted him instead, laying down and going to sleep.

oOoOoOoOoOo

When she woke up again, it was evident several hours had passed. She realized immediately that they were in a different car, as the interior was a different color and she was now laying, covered up in the backseat. The floor around her was covered in bags.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, yawning. Artemis glanced up from the front seat at her movement. "Ah. You're awake." When she just blinked blearily at him in response, he continued, "I'd say good morning, but it's obviously the middle of the night."

"Did you switch cars while I was unconscious?" Holly asked, rubbing her face. "And… go to the store?" she added, looking at all the bags around her.

"Yes. There's food in some of those, if you're hungry. I did try to get things that were vegetarian friendly, but when you're on the road you have to make due with what's available, I'm afraid."

She nodded, starting to rummage through some of the bags. "How long was I out? And how did you move me without waking me up?" She was more surprised at the second thing than the first. As a soldier, her body shut down after so long of not having decent rest, and she wouldn't come around until she was able to function for a few days again without sleep. That said, the exception was in an emergency, and she was a light sleeper; she was amazed that she hadn't woken up.

Artemis shrugged. "You're much easier to pass off as a child swaddled in blankets and unconscious," he said simply. "I may have taken measures to insure you stayed unconscious."

It took a minute for the meaning of that sentence to register. She stopped with an apple she'd found midway to her mouth and gaped at him. "You did _not_ drug me." He only shrugged in response. "Artemis! That's…"

"It was necessary," he told her. "Well, not completely necessary," he amended, "But it certainly made things easier."

Holly glared at him, slowly taking a bite of the apple. She didn't like the idea of it, but it was too late now to really do much about it. "How did you know I wasn't allergic?"

Artemis shrugged. "It wasn't in your file."

Holly scowled. "I sincerely hope you're not basing everything you think you know about me on what that file says."

"It hasn't steered me wrong so far, but I'll do my best to make only informed judgements." He rolled his eyes and signaled to turn.

Holly frowned slightly. "I thought we couldn't get a hotel for a while yet."

"You slept that "while yet" away, I'm afraid. It has been about a day."

"How could you possibly keep me drugged that long? That's not even safe!" Holly gaped at him, appalled.

"I didn't keep you drugged that long. You slept the equivalent of a full night on your own before I drugged you. The drug only lasted a few hours." Artemis turned into a parking lot and slid smoothly into the space, shutting off the car. Holly frowned, trying to make that math add up in her head. On one hand, she had no reason not to trust him, but on the other… he'd drugged her while she was asleep. It was entirely possible he was fudging the timetable on her a bit.

Artemis got out and opened her door. Holly climbed out beside him, glaring at him for a moment before punching him in the leg. "That's for drugging me."

He winced, rubbing his leg. "I deserve that," he allowed. "Especially because I know you're not going to like what I tell you to do next." He leaned down, grabbing something from a bag and tossing it to her. "Put this on."

Holly caught it reflexively and held it up, frowning. "A sweatshirt?" she wondered aloud. "Why?"

He looked her up and down pointedly. "I'm trying to pass you off as a child, Holly. A _normal_ child."

"Oh." She flushed slightly, feeling her face heat up. He wasn't leering at her, but Artemis still had the way about him that he'd always had that made her feel exposed and vulnerable. His blue eyes were bright and penetrating, like he could see into her very soul… and possibly just under her clothes. The thought didn't perturb her nearly as much as it might have a few years ago. She flushed deeper at the realization and quickly fumbled on the sweatshirt. It was baggy, probably purposely, so that it hid her chest well. She left the hood up as well to cover her ears, though she wasn't sure whether he'd noticed them or not. She looked herself over and sighed. She did indeed look like a little girl wearing her father's sweatshirt.

Artemis had grabbed their bags from the trunk as she was doing that. He came back around the car and chuckled at the sight of her. She looked so diminished in his sweatshirt. It was at least three sizes too big, and he wasn't large by any means. "Let's go," he told her, heading towards the entrance. "And please, be quiet. I can't pass you off as a four year old if you start speaking like an adult."

Holly frowned. "Fine," she acquiesced quickly, even though she didn't like it. She didn't see why it was necessary, but then, he hadn't been wrong to in anything he'd done thus far, regardless of whether she agreed with it or not.

"Good." He started towards the entrance to the hotel, holding the door open for her. She padded in slowly, waiting for him to come in and lead her to the front desk. She stayed close to his heels, keeping her head down and staying quiet.

"Hello," he greeted the desk lady, politely, but clearly sounding as exhausted as he looked. It suddenly occurred to Holly he must have been awake for ages - not only since she'd been asleep, but he'd been awake even before that, before they'd left. He must have been dead on his feet by now. "A one bedroom suite, please."

Holly frowned, looking up at him sharply. "Ar-"

"Hush, darling," he interrupted, his voice soft, but sending a sharp look her way when the woman at the desk turned to grab the key. She closed her mouth quickly. "We're almost there."

He paid the woman over the desk and thanked her, then took her hand, pulling her towards the elevator. She didn't resist, stumbling along after him, her short legs fumbling to keep up with his long strides, much like a child's. When the doors had closed behind them, he turned to her. "When I say quiet, that means quiet, Holly." His voice brokered no room for argument.

Holly frowned at him. "Why one bedroom?"

"Because. Two would be suspicious. Especially to our disguise. There's no reason a father and daughter traveling alone can't share a bed." He leaned against the wall.

He was right, of course, but she didn't have to like it. The bigger issue wasn't with the fact she didn't like it, if she was being honest, but more with the fact she was afraid of something happening because she knew she didn't mind as much as she should. She pushed those thoughts away as the elevator doors opened, following him out silently.

He lead her into the room and locked the door behind them, then proceeded to drop the bags by the door and toss the keys on the nightstand, flopping down on the couch. He sighed, closing his eyes and looking like he could fall asleep already. Holly frowned at him. "What are you doing?"

He cracked one eye open. "Resting," he answered simply. "Not all of us got to sleep a whole day away."

She chose to ignore the last part, generously. "Why aren't you going to the bed?"

"The bed is yours," he told her, again simply, as if she were slow.

"No. It's ours. You said so yourself."

He sighed, opening his eyes and looking at her. "Look. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, and this is far from the most uncomfortable place I've ever slept. It's not a big deal. Go to bed."

Holly met his eyes, chewing her lip for a moment before making a quick decision. "I won't be uncomfortable. I trust you." She paused, looking at him. "If it bothers you, I'll take the couch. But being as how I don't intend to go straight to bed anyway, and it's a shame for it to sit unused, and you're the one who hasn't slept in over a day, I think you should get it, if either of us alone."

"Fine. We'll both sleep in the bed, then, if you're really okay with that." He sat up and swung to his feet, pacing into the bedroom.

Holly followed. She watched him fall back and get settled, sighing. "I'm going to get a shower," she told him. "Then I'll be in."

"Mhm…" was all the murmur she got in answer. She looked at him, mildly amused, but the human was already unconscious. Sighing, she left him be and went to take a shower.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello people!**

 **Sorry for the sudden delay in updates! I unfortunately had a sudden outburst in medical issues recently, and that had put a sudden end to my ability to write for a little bit. Unfortunately results are still pending as to what's actually going on, but I will try to give some notice if something comes up where I may disappear for a bit. That's all I can promise right now, unfortunately. :/**

 **Anyway, enough of the dreariness. Some major insight in this chapter, some bonding, all that good stuff. Making our way to A/H slow but sure... :P It's coming, I promise. In the meantime, still, enjoy! :)**

Holly took a long shower, closing her eyes and reveling in the quiet and the feeling of being clean for the first time in several days. It felt nice to be clean again.

Stepping out of the shower and pulling on her pjs and a robe was like a fresh start, albeit one haunted by the past. She looked at Artemis's sleeping form and sighed. Had she made the right decision? Only time would tell, but she couldn't help thinking she had. It wasn't as if she'd had anything else to live for besides work at home anymore. If it weren't for her monthly visits with the Fowls… well, best not to think about that now.

She wondered if anyone knew she was missing yet. She had been supposed to be going to stay with his family for a bit when Artemis abducted her, so it was hard to say. Butler had known she was coming, and Root and Foaly would know that she had been supposed to be going. Had they been worried when she didn't drop the equipment back off to the shuttle port? Or would they just assume that she had forgotten or decided to take it with her? And would Butler worry when she didn't show up, or had he just assumed she'd changed her mind or something had come up at work?

She sighed, rubbing her head. She didn't have much way of knowing. She still had her communicator ring, she supposed, but if she turned it on they might try to track it if they had realized she was missing, and if they sent retrieval after them… She didn't want to think about it. Perhaps she'd just enjoy her anonymity a bit longer. Sure, they may worry some if someone could be bothered to notice… but she doubted they would, at least for a while yet. And that was something that wouldn't change or be any better or worse by knowing she was alive and just not coming back, as that was likely what was going to happen.

She wandered out into the living area where Artemis had dropped their bags and swiped a few dollars out of his wallet, wandering down the hall to the vending machines. He hadn't brought any of the travelling supplies in - in case they had to leave on a moment's notice, she presumed - and so all the food was still out in the car. It was also way too late to order room service tonight, so she was stuck with bottled water and a few who-knows-how-old bags of chips.

She bought her food and came back to the room, locking the door again and climbing into bed next to him. Artemis was still asleep. Holly sighed, watching him sleep as she ate. He looked so peaceful… it was almost strange to see him like this. She almost liked him better as a normal-looking person. Almost. But knowing the price he'd paid to become like this soured the affection she could have had for it.

Sighing, she laid down next to him. She wasn't tired yet - she'd slept for quite a while after all - but there wasn't much else to do at this time of night. She grabbed the remote off the stand and flicked on the tv, flipping through the channels mindlessly. Eventually she landed on a movie she recalled watching with the twins, and she stopped, settling back to watch it again.

Artemis started stirring after another hour or so. Holly glanced at him in surprise when she heard him groan and the bed moved under him. After how long he'd been awake for, surely a few hours sleep couldn't be enough for him.

But it seemed it was. Artemis turned to face her again, and this time his eyes had fluttered open. She looked down at him and jumped slightly when she found him blinking sleepily at her. "Hey."

"Hey," he murmured, his voice still thick with sleep. His eyes fluttered closed again for a moment. "How long did I sleep?"

"A few hours." Holly turned back to the tv.

"Mmm…. more than normal, then. Shocker." He yawned, rubbing his eyes and shifting to prop himself up against the pillows.

She frowned, looking at him again. "A few hours sleep is more than normal?"

Artemis nodded, looking over at her. "Yes. I typically only sleep in short sessions. About an hour, typically, for every twelve." He smothered another yawn. "All part of my training."

"This training sounds like hell," Holly muttered, shaking her head. "Not to mention ridiculous."

Artemis shrugged. "It is my life," he responded simply. Then he paused, his brow furrowing slightly. "Well, _was_ my life."

"Yes. Was." Holly shut the tv off and turned over on her side to face him, propping herself to be at eye level with him. "You're going back to your real life now. What it was supposed to be."

Artemis frowned slightly. "No. We're leaving all of it," he reminded her. "There is no real life anymore. There's… us. Without the constraints of all the people trying to keep us in chains." He sat up and stretched.

Holly sighed, watching him. "Yes," she agreed softly. "That."

Artemis looked back at her in surprise at her tone, raising an eyebrow. "That was the deal, Holly."

She heaved another sigh and nodded, looking up at him. "Yes. I know. I just...forgot."

He inhaled deeply, shaking his head. "Holly…" He stopped. He could tell she still wasn't exactly happy with the situation, and he knew she'd only agreed in the hopes of getting him out. But an agreement was an agreement just the same. "Just… give me some time. To adjust, and to find myself again. Then we can discuss the possibility of integrating me back into my old life - or at least back into yours. Alright?"

Holly nodded, looking down. "Alright." She took a sip of her water, then sighed, wiping her mouth. "So… do you still want to hear about it, though?"

"My past?" Holly nodded, and he considered it. "Yes. It was all I ever wanted to know, and I still do. I just… will need some time to adjust and decide if whatever I had is what I want to do with the rest of my now-free life." He laid back down beside her and met her eyes. "Alright?"

"Alright." She sighed. She didn't particularly like it, but it was only to be expected, if she was being honest. She could hardly blame him for wanting to have some control over his own life for once.

"Thank you." He stretched out next to her and looked over at her. "So. Tell me. Who was I?" He tilted his head, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Holly laughed softly. She sat up, turning to face him and tucking her legs under her. "That's a loaded question if I ever heard one."

He raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"

"Let's just say there's not much about you that couldn't be found on the internet," Holly told him.

His bemusement only seemed to grow with that answer. "Now I'm intrigued. I will be searching myself later, I think. But I want to hear it from you first." He paused, looking up at her. "Who was I, then? _What_ was I?"

"Who _are_ you," Holly corrected. "And you _are_ Artemis Fowl the Second. Son of Artemis Fowl the First and Angeline Fowl. Heir to the Fowl Empire. Criminal mastermind, child prodigy, and genius extraordinaire."

"I sound legendary," Artemis murmured, amused.

She laughed again. "You were. You _are_." She took a sip of her water. "You left your mark on the world, that's for certain."

Artemis watched her, obviously thinking. "So…" he started slowly. "Was I a good criminal or a bad criminal?"

She choked slightly and had to swallow hard to make the water down. "Is there such a thing as a good criminal?"

"Certainly. You know, the kind with principals." He watched her wipe her mouth and shrugged. "Robin Hood and all that."

"You were no Robin Hood, Artemis. But you weren't a bad person, either. You just made some mistakes." She paused, watching him wince and frown slightly. "I mean, it's not like you were a murderer or a rapist or something, so- what?" She stopped when the look on his face morphed into something she didn't quite recognize and then quickly slipped back into impassive. He winced again and lowered his eyes. "Artemis…"

Artemis didn't meet her eyes. He lowered his gaze from hers, then away, then looked at the ceiling in order to avoid her eyes. "Good to know I wasn't a monster _then_ ," he murmured, so low she almost wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear it.

But she did, and the emphasis on the word wasn't lost on her. She stopped, staring at him for a moment. Her eyes widened slightly. Sure, he'd told her he was going to kill her before, but for some reason the full impact of that statement hadn't hit her until just then. Perhaps it was just his reaction to it, but… "Is that… why you don't want to put a name on what you do?" she asked cautiously.

"No," Artemis said flatly. He sat up, looking away. "I don't want to tell you the name for what I do because it's a horrible thing, Holly. I don't want you to know the full extent of my depravity. You'll be terrified of me, and I couldn't take that, not now." His voice dropped towards towards the end.

Holly put her hand on his shoulder. "Artemis. Please. You already tortured me, so it's not like-"

"Tortured?" He barked out a laugh. "That wasn't torture, Holly. That was a warm-up to the torture. You haven't begun to comprehend what torture means to me or the hell I would have put you through." He got up, running his hands through his hair. "And torture isn't even the beginning, Holly. It's barely scraping the surface of my depravity and what I do to people."

Holly turned to him, watching him as he paced. "Okay. Tell me then. What do you do to people?"

Artemis stopped, turning to her and looking at her for a moment with dark, haunted eyes. He started towards her, then hesitated. She sighed. "It's okay, Artemis. I want to know." She waved him over, extending her hand towards him.

But he didn't take it. Instead, almost too quick for her to register, he grabbed her wrist and flipped her down, onto her back against the bed, her hands pinned above her head. She blinked and it was over, and she was pinned under him with him leaning over her, his dark blue eyes searching her face. "No one wants to know, Holly," he told her, darkly. "Because I am a _monster_. And I am a horrible person. I beat and rape and torture little girls like you - physically, mentally, emotionally, until they are so shattered to bits they are _begging_ me to kill them. And I _relish_ it." He swallowed thickly, closing his eyes for a moment. "I love the control and the rush of the situation, Holly. I live for it, and at this point, I don't think I can live without it." He opened his eyes. "And that, honestly, is why I don't want to go back. Not to any family I may have had, no life, or job, or friends, not even the LEP - because I am an assassin, and a monsterous one - the worst, most skilled one in my whole company, at that. They don't deserve to have to deal with me. No one does." He released her suddenly, pulling away and straightening. He shoved his hands through his hair, pacing over to the window and breathing hard.

Holly laid where he'd pinned her, frozen for a moment even after he let her go. Slowly, she sat up and turned to look at him. He was just standing there, limply, his head resting against the window. "Artemis…" she said, softly, but he cut her off.

"Don't," he interrupted, hoarsely, his voice shaking with barely contained emotion. "Just _don't_ , Holly. There's nothing you can say. I am a monster, and that's all there is to it. I can't go back to whatever pleasant life I had and just settle down easily. It doesn't work like that. I physically couldn't do it."

"You can," she told him, gently. She got up, approaching him and climbing up on the window seat to be standing in front of him, almost at head height. She pushed at his chest to get him to lean away from the window, and he did, looking down at her warily. "It will take some time, Artemis, but I believe you can."

"I don't," he told her.

"Well, you didn't believe you could be fixed last time, either, and I still did it," she countered softly. She took his chin, pulling his head down to hers. "And you're not an evil monster, Artemis. That's another thing you've always thought that you never were."

He stepped back, out of her grasp, and looked away. "Well, you said yourself that I wasn't half the things I am now back then."

"Yes, but you still thought the same thing. And you know how I know you're not a monster?" She reached out and caught his arm, reeling him back to her.

"How?" he whispered, so quietly she wouldn't have heard it if his face wasn't inches from hers again.

"Because you don't want to be." She ran her hand through his hair, gently, and he inhaled sharply and pulled away.

"Holly…"

"No. It's the truth, Artemis. They may have been able to break you enough to force you to do their bidding, but they can't make you someone or something different than what you really are. I've seen it. You're not really as different from how you used to be as you think you are." She watched him as he turned away, shaking his head. "Please. Just trust me."

"I can't trust you, Holly. Not yet. It's too… ingrained." He sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. "And if you think for a second that I don't want to do to you what I've been trained to do, what I just told you… you'd be wrong."

Holly approached him again, slowly, sitting on the bed beside him and leaning into him. He flinched, but didn't pull away. "Artemis… I fully believe that the only reason you have the urge to do that is because of what they did to you. But if that's what you need to do to feel better, I would let you."

"What?" He shot her an incredulous look and pulled away, getting up. "No. I couldn't… I wouldn't. I need you, Holly, as you are, not as a ragdoll, beaten down version of you."

Holly frowned. "Artemis, I-"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head and running his hands through his hair. "We're not having this debate. Especially not right now."

"But-"

"No!" He turned back to her, his eyes glowing with such emotion that she found herself floored. He looked furious and hurt at even the suggestion. "No. Now get the sweatshirt back on. We're leaving."

"What?" She stood up. "Why?"

"Because. We can't afford to linger in one place too long, not yet. Now that I've rested and am capable of driving again, we need to go." He stalked back out into the living area and started grabbing bags.

Holly stayed there for a moment, still slightly stunned, then suddenly realized she needed to move. She grabbed the sweatshirt, fumbling it on and running out after him.

He'd already loaded his arms with bags when she made it out to him. "Artemis-" she started again, but he silenced her with a look.

"Come here," he ordered.

She stepped forward cautiously. "Why-hey!" she yelped, when he yanked up her hood and scooped her up. "What are you doing?"

"It's the middle of the night. Any normal child would be asleep." He cradled her small form against his shoulder with one arm, opening the door with the other. "So shut up and close your eyes."

She frowned, but quieted nonetheless. Of course he was right. Sighing, she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, pretending not to notice how warm he was or how comfortable she actually was held against him like this. She stayed still and silent as he slipped out of the room and carried her silently through the hotel. She heard him whisper a greeting to the woman at the front desk before a blast of cold air hit her and told her they'd exited the building. She shivered once, but otherwise didn't move.

Artemis opened the front door and laid her in the passenger seat, then closed the door. She heard him open the back door and toss the bags in the back, then opened the door and climb in the driver's seat. She tried to look over and catch his eye when she was sure it was safe, but he steadily ignored her. He started the car, shifted into gear, and just like that, they were off again.


	8. Chapter 8

The silence was thick and tense as they pulled out of the lot. Holly watched Artemis quietly from the corner of her eye, but didn't speak again for a while. Clearly, he needed time to cool off, and she wasn't going to try to make him talk in the meantime. It would just turn into further conflict.

After about an hour had passed in silence, Holly finally couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't even turned the radio on, and she was going to go crazy if it was silent for another minute. "How long until we can board a plane?" she blurted, more for something to say than because she actually wanted to know.

Artemis didn't even look at her. "Another day at least," he told her, shortly.

"Why?"

"Because the number of airports within so many miles is not high enough to make our likelihood of being detected low enough for what's left of my sanity to take," he snapped.

"Okay, touchy." Holly sat back, studying him. "Are you really going to be irritated with me for this? We had to have that talk eventually, Artemis, and you and I both know it. And I know you know I was serious, and I think that's what's bothering you more than anything."

He shot her a dark look, the muscles in his jaw jumping as he clenched it. "You have no idea what you're saying, Holly. That's what bothers me. The fact that you think you know and you don't. What I did to you wasn't even torture by my standards."

She bit her lip, thinking about what he'd done. It was mostly knife play and waterboarding - both of which were hell, but not actually that bad compared to what he could have done. She frowned slightly as a thought occurred to her. "What was that wand thing you had?" she asked as she suddenly remembered it. "You didn't use it."

"I decided not too. It was harsher and you hadn't been given the chance to cave yet." He quirked a shoulder, trying to look nonchalant, but she could set see the tension in his body.

"What was it?" she pressed.

He let out a frustrated breath. "It's like… a human cattle prod. It's used to shock you."

"Oh." She blinked, surprised. She honestly wasn't sure what answer she'd expected, but that wasn't it. "I… see. In the water...?"

"The current affects you internally, not externally. So yes, it'd would have been worse because of the water to an extent, but I wouldn't have gotten shocked, if that's what you were asking." He looked over at her. "And even if it did, it wouldn't bother me. All that training, remember?"

She frowned slightly. "Yes. The training. It sounds horrible."

"It was."

She looked down. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she murmured.

"Don't. It had nothing to do with you."

She frowned, looking up at him sharply. Of course he'd think that, because she'd never gotten far enough to actually explain their stories or the extent of their interactions. "It had… everything to do with me, actually."

"I doubt that."

"Well, it's true!" Holly frowned, crossing her arms.

"Oh, I don't doubt that you believe it is. It just seems like the kind of person you are. Over-obsessive, self-blaming over everything…" He shrugged. "But I doubt there was really actually anything you could have done to prevent it."

The statement was so eerily similar to what everyone had been telling her for years that she frowned. She still didn't believe it. "It's my turn to tell you that you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Please, enlighten me then." He looked over at her.

"While you're driving? No." Holly sat back, crossing her arms. "The pains in your head, remember?"

"Of course I remember." He sighed, looking over at her. "I'm not asking you to tell me the stories right now, whatever they may be. I'm asking you to tell me why you're so sure it's your fault."

"Because." Holly looked away, out the window. "Artemis, you think your people are so advanced, but… the truth is, I promise you, mine are, way more than yours will be for several thousand years. The LEP has technology you could only dream of." She paused, her brow furrowing slightly as she remembered the shots of magic. "Well, some of it, anyway. With the information they have to have, it's possible they have some of it. But, the point is…" She looked down, hesitating and choosing her words carefully, so as to not trigger any pains in his head while he was still behind the wheel. "My People… have technology that can affect your mind. We can… erase memories. And… I let them do that to you." She looked out the window again, fidgeting, unable to keep still. The guilt eating at her insides was too much.

Artemis winced slightly, but hid it carefully, not wanting to make her feel any guiltier. "So," he began, carefully, "I still don't see how that makes it your fault."

"Because!" Holly exploded, turning to him. He masked his smirk at her repetition and indignance, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Artemis, I let them wipe everything you knew about us from your mind, including how to contact us. And if you'd known-"

"I could have called for help?" he completed, and she flinched but nodded, looking down again. He sighed. It was obvious to him what she wasn't saying, but now wasn't the time to delve into that. He couldn't risk having that conversation while he was driving; the pains would be more than just twinges then, and he did not have time to deal with an accident. "Holly, honestly," he told her gently, looking over at her, "There was nothing you could have done for me. Believe me. They're professionals."

"So am I, Artemis," she murmured, weakly, turning back to the window. "And a better equipped one, at that. I could have helped. I could have stopped them from taking you."

"I sincerely doubt that," Artemis told her.

"Well, I don't," she said bluntly.

He sighed. "Holly. The likelihood you would have been taken with me had you tried to help me is incredibly high. The likelihood you could have saved me… not so high."

"Any chance is a chance, Artemis." She looked away.

Artemis glanced over at her and pressed his lips together to stifle another sigh. "Fine. If you say so. Pout away." She shot him a dark look, but before she could say anything in response, he turned up the radio.

His original intention was just to drown her out until she stopped protesting, but as soon as he caught wind of the news, he turned it up louder and started listening for real. Holly's glared melted away into worry, her mouth snapping closed as they both registered what it was saying.

"-hotel was blown up around three in the morning. Initial reports say the explosion originated somewhere between the sixth and seventh floors-"

They exchanged frozen looks as Artemis turned the radio down again, unable to listen to anymore. Holly swallowed thickly. "What floor were we on?" she asked weakly. She hadn't seen the name of the hotel, but even still, it didn't take a genius to realize that this was no coincidence.

"The sixth. And we left at about two-thirty in the morning." His voice was deathly quiet.

She gulped. "Do you think…?"

"It's not a coincidence. It wasn't meant to kill us. It was meant to send a message." He ran a hand through his hair. "They're still tracking us, somehow."

"How?" Holly asked. He just shook his head, clearly at a loss as much as she was. "Maybe it's the hotels?" she suggested. "They know your aliases? And we are kind of a conspicuous pair."

"Maybe," Artemis allowed, but he didn't sound entirely convinced. He was silent for a long moment as he thought, his brows scrunching together. "I… don't like it," he said at last. "But… we may just have to lie low somewhere for a while." At her confused look, he added, "Somewhere… off the grid. With no records to speak of."

"Wait, you mean like breaking into someone's vacation home?" Holly blurted. "That's…."

"Necessary to survive now, apparently," Artemis muttered grimly. "I don't like it either, but… it doesn't seem like we have much choice."

Holly pressed her lips together. She really didn't like it, but… well, it was her theory in the first place, so who was she to say anything about it? They had to try, at least. She couldn't imagine they'd try to send them another message. No, if they were found again, it would be bad, to put it mildly. "Alright," she conceded at last. "I get it. We have to at least try to lose them."

"Agreed," Artemis said tersely. "Now we just have to find a place to hide out in for a while."

"Any ideas?"

"I have a few," was all he replied. Then he pushed the gas pedal to the floor, making her grip the armrests tightly and flatten herself against the seat, and they were off.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello peoples! I know, long time no post. I was working and dealing with medical issues and trying to catch my AO3 up with my FF, so... yeah. Sorry. But we're back now! And better, frankly, I believe. A small break is always helpful in the long run. (Barring I don't forget my intentions, but that will NOT happen with this story.)**

 **We've finally reached the smut in this, so MIND THE RATING. To anyone who doesn't look and doesn't check the author's notes, that's your problem. No apologies here.**

 **Anyway, it's been ages, so I'll quit babbling. Enjoy! Please let me know what you think!**

It took several hours and lots of back roads before Artemis finally discovered a place he deemed suitable for them to stay at. Holly was alternating between dozing and taking in the scenery around them, not paying much attention to where they were going. She had tried a few times to start a conversation between them, but Artemis had shut her down each time, making it very clear that he wasn't in talking mood, so eventually she had given up.

Holly was dozing when he finally found a suitable spot to pull over. He reached over and shook her awake, and she jolted up in the seat, blinking blearily at him. "We're here," he told her shortly, then climbed out the driver's door before she could answer.

She sat up and looked around. Outside her window, a little log cabin sat a few yards away, almost obscured by the trees. She climbed out and started slightly when she realized there was no sign of a road anywhere. How had they even gotten here?

Artemis was already starting to unload stuff from the backseat of the car. She closed her door and joined him. "Is it safe to unload?" she asked him, almost tentatively, aware he still probably wasn't in a good mood.

He glanced at her briefly before answering. "As safe as it gets. I broke basically every law putting as much distance between them and us as possible, and if our theory holds, it'll take ages for them to track us down." He headed for the cabin, his arms loaded down with bags.

Holly stared after him for a moment before grabbing as many as she could and following. At least he was talking to her, however briefly.

She followed him into the house - he waved her in as an invitation, perhaps because she stopped at the door or perhaps because it was something else in that stupid file - and set the bags down in the kitchen area where he was putting stuff away. The cabinets were already decently stocked with nonperishables, but the amount of dust and stillness around them suggested that this place hadn't seen use in a while. She imagined it was exactly what she'd called it as being - someone's vacation house.

It was a nice little cabin, too. The front door opened up into a living area with an adjacent kitchenette space that was mostly wide open. Some couches and armchairs sat around the room, and a fireplace sat back against one wall, a tv mounted up above it. There was already a stack of kindling sitting ready for use next to the fire place. A quick glance around showed two doors leading off into different rooms across from them. It was small, and compact, but perfect for what they needed it for. No one would be getting in, out, or anywhere near them without them being able to hear, and to say it was well hidden would be an understatement.

Artemis finished putting away the food and turned back to her, eyeing her silently for a moment. She still stood on the other side of the counter from him, taking in their surroundings. "I'm going to shower," he told her, and then he disappeared into the next room without waiting for a reply.

Holly watched him go and sighed. He was still being short with her, and she honestly wasn't even sure why at this point. Because it was easier? Was he still mad at her? Or was this about something else entirely that she didn't know about?

She had no idea and no way to figure it out, so she decided not to dwell. She'd just ask him directly about it later. In the meantime, she went over to the cabinets and rooted through, pulling out two cups of instant noodles and putting them in the microwave them for them.

Artemis showered quickly, so she was just dumping their cooked noodles into bowls when he came back out in lounge pants and nothing else. She turned around with the two bowls of soup and almost ran right into him. "Oh! Hey! I made soup." She handed him a bowl.

"How creative and nutritious," he said dryly, taking it and going to sit on the couch. Holly frowned and followed him in.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked suddenly, sitting on the opposite end of the couch as he had.

Artemis glanced at her and frowned slightly. "Excuse me?"

"You! You've had a terrible attitude since we left the hotel!" Holly crossed her arms. "I thought it was because of what I said but I thought we talked about it and you still have a bad attitude. So what is it?"

Artemis blinked at her, his brow furrowing slightly. After a long moment he looked away, stirring his soup. "You wouldn't understand."

"We can't use that excuse on each other, Artemis. Seriously. If I don't then no one will because this is it, apparently." She gestured around them widely. "Is this still about what I said or not?"

Artemis sighed, looking away. "Partially. Look, I'm sorry. But… you have to realize I'm not used to being with anyone for any length of time, unless…"

"You were torturing them?" Holly completed, and he nodded.

"It's ingrained. And as much as I hate what I do, I've also learned to rely on it. For… a stress reliever, almost." He looked down, seeming almost ashamed.

Holly chewed her lip. "So you're being an ass because anxiety is building up and you have no way to let it out?"

He smirked sardonically at her. "Precisely."

"Use me, then!" Holly put her food down. "Artemis, I've told you. You can do whatever you'd like to me. I can take it."

He sighed and shook his head. "I can't, Holly. Even if you could take it - which I don't know for sure that you can - I'd be putting you through hell, and for what reason? No."

"But-" she started again.

"No," he repeated, firmer this time, shooting her a dark look. "Now drop it and eat your food."

Holly scowled, picking up her bowl and turning back to it. "Fine," she muttered petulantly. "If this is what I get for offering…"

Artemis just sighed, grabbing the nearby remote and flipping on the tv. Holly ate her food slowly, not even watching the tv. It was some stupid sitcom she had no interest in anyway.

She was about to get up and dump her bowl when she felt Artemis's hand came down on her leg, just below the knee. He didn't even look at her, letting his hand crawl up the inside of her leg at a snail's pace. She swallowed thickly, resisting the urge to part her legs further, knowing that would be an open invitation. She set her soup down slowly. "Artemis?" she murmured tentatively.

Artemis didn't even look at her, his eyes still firmly on the tv. "I lied to you, a bit," he admitted quietly. "Torture is my biggest outlet. I raped people very rarely. But I also had a lot of one night stands with people."

Holly swallowed thickly, feeling his fingers caressing the inside of her thigh slowly. "And?"

"And… sex is my other outlet." He finally looked at her, his blue eyes smoldering darkly. "If you really want to help me, this is how. But I'm warning you now. No is not an option once you've said yes. And I am not always a nice person in bed."

Holly had to look away from his intense gaze for a moment. She could feel herself growing wet just from his look alone. "I… see," she murmured at last, very quietly.

"Yes." He reached over and tilted her head up, making her meet his eyes. His other hand still rested between her thighs, pressed against the crease where her legs were pressed together still. "If you want to help me, then open your legs. Or get up, and we'll never speak of this again."

Holly swallowed thickly again, meeting his gaze solidly for a long moment. Very slowly and deliberately, she parted her legs for him.

Artemis wasted no time in bringing his hand up and dipping it into her pants, cupping her sex in her baggy sweats he'd given her to wear. He thumb found her clit immediately, expertly starting to circle it, brushing it just gently enough for her to feel but not enough to even jolt her. He groaned at the soft moan she gave in response, leaning over her almost immediately and capturing her lips in a deep, passionate kiss.

Holly gasped and moaned into his mouth, kissing him back. She started to wrap her arms around him, but he caught her wrists and pinned them above her head. Her small form was pinioned under him, held down by his legs keeping hers apart and his body leaned over hers, her hands pinned by his and her head kept still by the bruising force of his kiss.

Eventually she had to try to turn her head away, desperate for breath. His slow stimulation of her clit hadn't sped up, making her body warm up slowly and each circle teasing and heating it a bit more as it swelled. She panted and tried to squirm. " _Artemis_ ," she pleaded thinly, trying to writhe.

Artemis looked down at her with dark eyes. "Normally I'd tell you if you want something to ask for it," he growled, "But I need you too much to want to toy with you right now." He kissed her ferociously again, tugging her into a sitting position and then onto him so she straddled his lap. "Do exactly as I say," he breathed against her swollen lips, "Or you won't orgasm. Do you understand?"

Holly's eyes widened slightly. She panted against him for a long moment, using the time he'd given her to answer to breathe, then nodded quickly.

"Excellent." He released her wrists and took his hand out of her pants, smirking when she whined slightly in protest. "Hands on the back of the couch," he ordered, undoing his pants and lifting his hips under her to slide his jeans and boxers down enough to free his cock.

She leaned forward and did as he said, moaning softly in anticipation. He looked huge, compared to an elf, and she knew that this was going to hurt at the very least for a minute as she was completely out of magic. She felt a spark of apprehension, but then he was pulling her sweatpants and panties down to where her bent knees rested on the couch and running his fingers through her folds, and in an instant it was gone again.

Artemis smirked up at her as he ran his fingers through her folds, getting a feel for how wet she was. He suddenly thrust his middle finger into her entrance, burying it in her and making her throw her head back and cry out. Even his finger was as long as anything she'd ever taken, if not as thick.

He slipped it out and popped his fingers in his mouth, sucking and licking them clean and smirking at her. He tugged at her hair gently, pulling his fingers free. "We'll have to trim this up later, at the very least," he murmured, almost to himself. "But you're wet enough, at least." He grabbed her hips, lining his cock with her entrance and slamming her down onto him suddenly.

"Ah!" Holly cried, almost screaming from the sudden penetration. Her nails dug into the couch. "Please! Stop! Just… just for a minute," she gasped weakly, cinching her eyes shut and trying to temper the pain.

Artemis stilled beneath her, still firmly holding her hips so she couldn't move away but also not moving. Her head fell heavily onto his shoulder, and she panted against him, forcing her muscles to relax and trying to ease the sting that stretching to accommodate him had made. He'd torn something, she was sure, but it was nothing serious, and surely nothing a shot of magic couldn't fix.

He brushed his lips across her neck softly. "Okay?"

She whimpered. "Yes. Just…" she winced, knowing how she would sound when she said it. "You're… big. More so than anyone else I've been with."

"Yes, I imagine elves are rather small," he commented dryly. "But I figured it was best to rip the band aid off, as they say."

Holly stiffened at his first statement. "You… you know? How?"

Artemis chuckled breathlessly and rolled his eyes. "Have you seen yourself, Holly? You obviously aren't human, even if it wasn't in your file." He shrugged, raising an eyebrow at her. "You doubt my intelligence?"

"Gods, no! You only make that mistake once." Holly shook her head. "But it just… didn't seem like you did. You treated me so… normally… minus the whole torture thing and all that. I thought…"

Artemis sighed, looking down. "I knew. I've worked with other fairies before any other ways were opened up. And of course it was in your file." He ran his fingers down her jawline slowly, his thumb tracing her bottom lip. "But shelve it for now. I'm going to start lifting you off and pulling you back down slowly. Try to adjust."

She stared at him for a moment, then swallowed thickly and nodded. "If I can't…"

"Too late. At any rate, everyone else did." He tugged her hips up gently but firmly, sliding partway out of her.

The reminder of the fact he'd raped other people, elves and humans alike, was not exactly what she'd needed at the moment, but she was too focused on trying to adjust to take him comfortably that she let the comment slide.

He pulled about halfway out and then tugged her hips firmly, sheathing himself fully back in her and groaning softly. "You're so _tight_ ," he murmured breathlessly. "I forgot how tight your kind can be." He tugged her forward before she could respond, his lips moving up and down her neck, letting his teeth graze her soft skin.

Holly moaned softly in response, squirming closer to him. This was moving so fast and was probably so wrong on so many levels, but now she was starting to adjust and the pleasure was ruling out her better judgement. Why resist, anyway? They were going to be on the run together for a long time, and he didn't intend to let her go back to anyone or anything she'd known. It seemed incredibly unlikely they'd have lasted a long time without either having sex or snapping somehow.

His hands moved from her hips to cup her ass once he was sure was adjusted enough to him, starting to thrust into her and pulling her forward to meet each one. Her hands slid from the back of the couch to his shoulders, holding them as she moaned and bucked against him.

Artemis growled softly at the motion, but he was too preoccupied controlling her to be able to move her hands. "Keep moving," he warned breathlessly, releasing her ass suddenly and grabbing her wrists, holding them together in one hand between them and tugging her forward, pulling her body flush against his. He could feel himself getting closer. He could control it forcefully - another aspect of that horrible training - but he had no intention of stopping. "You want to come?" he growled.

Holly moaned breathily. "Gods, yes," she breathed. "Please."

He leaned forward and bit her neck, groaning into it as his free hand moved between them and began rubbing her clit. She gasped, first at the bite and then at the pleasure, her whole body arching against him and shaking. "Beg for it," he growled into her skin.

Holly gasped and moaned softly. "Oh, gods! Artemis, please! Let me come! It's been so long… and you feel so good! Please!"

Growling in approval, the human continued rubbing her clit more directly, his teeth sinking harder into her shoulder. She threw her head back and cried out, her walls spasming repeatedly around him. "Yes! Gods, yes! Artemis, I'm so close! Please!"

He groaned softly into her shoulder. For a moment, the urge to stop her was almost overwhelming, but he didn't, wanting to come too badly to tease her. A moment later, she threw her head back, her eyes almost rolling back as she went over the edge, keening and crying against him. He came in her a moment later.

Holly collapsed heavily against his chest, panting, her face buried into his neck. He pressed his face in her hair, holding her and still drifting lazily in immense pleasure. After a minute or so, he lifted her head slowly and tilted her chin up, kissing her briefly.

"How was that?" he murmured against her mouth.

"Mm… amazing," she murmured in response, leaning in and kissing him again. When her tongue brushed his bottom lip, seeking entrance, he pushed her back.

He raised an eyebrow at the way she pouted at him, squeezing her ass. "Get up."

"Why?" She slid off of him slowly, wincing slightly, and got to her feet in front of him.

Artemis reached out and fixed her pants. "Because I told you to." He looked her over, licking his lips. "Now go get a shower. And if you want to be rewarded after, shave." He leaned back, pulling up his own pants again. They hadn't even completely undressed.

Holly blinked at him. "I don't…"

"I don't care what you do or don't do normally," Artemis interrupted. "It wasn't a request."

Holly blinked again, then raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? You _are_ pushy. Geez." She punched him lightly on the leg.

"Yes, I am. And I told you I was." He caught her wrist before she could pull away, brushing his lips over her knuckles briefly before releasing it. "I'll be waiting when you get out," he told her, letting her go.

Holly nodded, her eyes still searching his face for a long moment before she finally turned away, walking into the bathroom silently. He watched her go, running his hands through his hair and leaning heavily back against the couch.

Perhaps… well, not even perhaps. They really shouldn't have done that, and they really shouldn't again, but he knew both were undeniable now. There couldn't really be any future between them, not with the limited options they had. They would either die or be retrained and separated if caught, or they would be on the run, for a long time, if not forever. It wasn't safe to get too attached to each other, period. They'd likely end up separating eventually if they couldn't find somewhere safe.

Even as much as he'd like to deny it, the only minuscule hope of safety was in the hands of her People, and even then, it was sketchy. And they'd still likely end up separated. When she was back with her happy life and her own kind, why would she ever choose him, especially knowing what a monster he was?

He ran his hands through his hair and stretched out. Even with the stress, even with these thoughts in mind, he couldn't deny that he felt so much better now than he had even a half hour before. He would get tense and borderline mean or cruel as he tried to control his body's desperate thirsts that they'd installed in him. He needed power. Through blood and torture, or in bed. Sometimes both. The cravings they'd programmed into him were just… more powerful than what he could withstand for a long period of time.

There was a lot wrong with him, he knew that. It was just a matter of what things were really him and what things were as a result of what those people had tried to morph him into. How much would go away in time? How much could he really control? Only time would tell.

He sighed and got up, stretching again and going into the bedroom. He laid on the bed, turning onto his side to watch the bathroom door. Holly would be out shortly, he was sure. He just had to wait.

He wondered how she was going to react to him overall. She seemed like a strong, independent elf, and he had no doubt she'd resist him on occasion - sometimes just for the sake of resisting, and other times out of principle. How much could she flat out take? What would she need weaned into? He had very little time for limits - most everything he wanted to do to people he would heal after if it was too crazy, and he didn't allow any resistance that he couldn't find justified somehow. Fear or not wanting to were not justifiable reasons to him. He made it very clear - and had to Holly as well - that he would own whomever was in bed with him, and their bodies were his instruments and toys.

He got comfortable in the bed and waited for her. There wasn't much else to do in the meantime.


	10. Chapter 10

**Again, sorry it's been so long. Trying to catch up AO3 and life in general just getting in the way. I'm trying, I swear.**

 **Also, if for anyone who's interested, I may start using my tumblr to post like snippets and deleted scenes and/or other FF/writing related things. So, feel free to follow me on there if you'd like. My username is capshorty.**

 **So, little bit of everything in this chapter: some smut, some** **revelations** **, some talking... so yeah. Anyway, enjoy!**

Holly came out a few minutes later, wearing a robe and still toweling furiously at her hair. Artemis looked up at the sound of the door and smiled. "Decided to forgo the clothes, did we?" he teased lightly.

She shrugged, approaching the bed. "Well, all my clothes are kind of out here, so…"

"Don't worry about it. I approve." He sat up, taking the towel from her when she got close and gesturing for her to sit on the edge of the bed. She did, looking slightly confused, until he started drying her hair quick, gentle hands.

She sighed and relaxed into him. "Do you have any idea how strange you are?" she murmured thoughtfully, almost to herself.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes, I do, but… over what precisely?"

"This." She shrugged, waving her hand back at him generally. "It's like you can go from psychotic to dominating to just… loving and caring. It's odd."

"I don't think loving is the right word for it," he told her. "I don't… love things. Or people. I find value in them and I use them. I may like them. But love…" He hissed through his teeth and shook his head, finishing her hair.

Holly sighed. "You always thought that when you were younger, too." She pulled away and took the towel back. She tossed it over the foot of the bed, then turned back to face him. "You were wrong then, too."

"I suppose time will tell," Artemis said, not totally convinced but not wanting to argue. He held his hand out to her. "Now come here. I want to hear some of these stories."

Holly smiled, letting him pull her onto the bed. "And here I'd half expected you to jump me when I came out," she told him, only half teasing.

"I think I'll be alright for the moment, but don't tempt me." He leaned back against the pillows, pulling her with him. She settled against the pillows next to him, both of them facing each other and turned on their sides, only inches away from each other. He trailed his fingers down her jaw gently. "I still have questions you haven't answered."

"Well, I haven't begun to touch on most of your life, so I can imagine why." She leaned into his touch.

"I don't care about most of my life. I care about you. And… about my family." He bit his lip, his blue eyes looking darkly hopeful. "I had a family, right?"

Holly had to laugh quietly despite herself. "Yes. You did. I told you earlier your parents names, but… there was more." She reached up, running his fingers down the shadow creeping along his jaw. "You have your mother and father, very happily married, and two adorable twin brothers. They both look a lot like you. Myles is your twin, almost, and Beckett's not too far off, but he has curly blond hair instead of your dark, feathery type like Myles does." She brushed her fingers through his hair as she said it, and he inhaled softly, catching her hand and starting to toy with her fingers. Bolts of sudden pain struck between his temples intermittently as she spoke, but he'd been trained to take a lot worse, and so didn't react, using the simple touch and motion to distract himself.

"And you also have Butler and Juliet who live in your household," she continued, oblivious to his discomfort. "Butler was your bodyguard. Juliet is his sister, and she guards - or mostly babysits, honestly - your little brothers." Holly paused, lowering her eyes and watching him play with her fingers. "Butler is the reason you're still alive. He protected you with his life… multiple times. And he blamed himself a lot when you disappeared." Almost as much as she did.

Artemis seemed to sense the last unspoken thought. "You blamed yourself a lot, too," he murmured. "Didn't you?"

Holly flinched, pulling her hand away and sitting up. "We're not talking about me. We're talking about you."

"Holly…" Artemis frowned, reaching her and trying to reel her back to him, but she resisted.

"I was going to see them, you know," she blurted, looking back at him when he didn't say anything. "Before. When you caught me."

"You visited my family? Even after I was gone?" He tilted his head, sounding mildly amused.

Holly shrugged and nodded. "You weren't the only one I knew, Artemis. And with you gone, the rest of your family wasn't a threat to my People, so…" she shrugged again. "They didn't stop me."

Artemis propped himself up and ran his fingers through her hair gently. "I was a threat to your People?"

"Well, I didn't think so. A lot of them did, though." She relaxed almost unconsciously against his touch, and this time she let him pull her back down against the pillows with him.

"What did I do?" He looked down at her, still propped up over her and toying with her hair.

"You were a criminal," Holly told him. "A young, smart, and dangerous one. And if that weren't enough… then you kidnapped me."

That was enough to make him actually flinch, both from the thought and from the spike of pain in his head. That memory must have been an important one if it caused that much pain. "I...see," he managed, when he regained his composure. "And why would I do that?"

"Because… you wanted ransom." Her brow furrowed slightly at the memory, and he winced slightly again.

"Why?"

"Good question." She sighed and looked up at him. "I never found out the answer to that before you were mind wiped, and then you supposedly died..."

"I see." Artemis stared at her contemplatively for a moment until she flushed and looked away, then reached for the sash of her robe. "And...you blamed yourself for that. Why?"

"Why wouldn't I? I was basically responsible for what happened to you, and I-… what are you doing?" She stopped when she felt him undoing the robe, her eyes flicking back to him.

"You'll see. Keep going." He swiftly pulled the sash free of the robe.

Holly blinked. "Okay… well, I just… I could have stopped them." Her voice was quiet, hushed, as if she was ashamed to admit it. "All it would have took was for me to push, and tell them I didn't believe you were a threat to us, and after all my involvement… they would have had to listen." She closed her eyes. "I could have saved you, and I didn't."

Artemis took the sash, holding it in one hand and pushing open the robe with the other. He licked his lips, running his hand lightly down the front of her body, his fingers ghosting from her collarbone to where her legs were crossed beside his. "You still think you could have saved me?" he murmured. "You're wrong. Even if I could have called you for help, I wouldn't have. Do you know why?"

"No," she murmured, still not opening her eyes.

"Because." He stroked his thumb over the top of her slit, watching her shudder slightly but not uncross her legs. "I would have known then, just as I do now, what a stubborn, fiery little elf you were, and I would have known just how far you would have gone to protect me." He leaned down, putting his lips right by her ear, letting them brush the tip as he spoke. "And I… would have never allowed it to happen." He nipped at the tip of her ear. "Now spread your legs."

Holly gasped, her eyes fluttering open and compulsively doing as he said without thinking. He scraped his thumb down the full length of her slit, pushing just a little to feel the wetness at her entrance. He hummed softly, licking the shell of her ear once. "Now… arms above your head."

"Why?" she murmured, already doing as he said.

"Because I told you to. And I'm going to show you what I can do to a pretty little elf like you." He smirked against her neck, straightening over her enough to draw her arms up tight and bind them to the headboard with the sash.

Holly whimpered softly. "Show me...what? How?"

"Demonstration, of course." He smiled, leaning over her and kissing her hair. "How much I control you. What I would have had to do to you eventually if you hadn't cracked," he murmured against her hair. "Except this time you'll have a mind-blowing orgasm waiting for you at the end of all these denials you'll have to endure."

"Oh, gods…" Holly moaned a little and squirmed. "How many are we talking about?"

"As many as I can elicit from your pretty little body with just my own." He smirked darkly down at her.

"Estimate?" she pleaded softly. His smirk grew as he leaned down, putting his lips by her ear.

"It's hard to say," he whispered, his voice low and sultry enough to make her tremble just listening to him. "Truth be told, I'm going for at least five, but hoping for upwards of ten." He licked the shell of her ear.

"Oh gods…" Holly moaned again, straining against her bonds as he started to attend to her ear. It was the only thing she could do, with him holding her head in place by her hair.

He nipped and licked and suckled at all the right spots, making her keen and writhe against him. While her ears were especially sensitive, it wasn't quite enough to bring her to orgasm, not without that one spot he couldn't possibly know about-

"Ah! Oh Frond, please!" Holly cried, writhing wildly under him as his mouth dropped to just below her earlobe, finding that sweet spot that was almost as good as rubbing her little bud and sucking it tenderly while still rubbing the tip of her ear. "Artemis!" she gasped desperately.

He pulled away, nuzzling her hair as she whined and bucked, her high fading slowly. "Shh…" he soothed, just above her wet ear. "What's the matter, darling? You didn't think I knew about that spot? About how to stimulate you? I warned you I did." He ghosted his fingers over the shell of her ear, watching her hips convulse in response. "One down, little one. Count." Then he moved to the other side, repeating the whole process on her other ear.

Holly was panting heavily and whimpering when he finished the second time, leaning back and watching her. She had closed her eyes, her small form still twitching involuntarily. "Two," she moaned softly.

"Good girl." He stroked her hair once, gently, then leaned down and kissed her deeply. "I'm going to make you all mine," he whispered against her lips, and he received a breathy moan as agreement.

He kissed down her neck, slowly, with open-mouthed kisses, holding her head still under him. When he reached her collarbone, he paused, grinding his still-covered cock against her entrance as he kissed down the other side. She cried out and strained against his hand.

"Don't make me order you to take this all completely still," he warned in a whisper, dusting kisses across her collarbone before lowering himself to her breasts.

"I can't just- stay still," she whispered, panting softly. She moaned as he suckled her left nipple, rubbing his thumb around the other.

After a moment he pulled back, ignoring her whine of displeasure as he switched sides. "You can. You should. And you will, if you want to orgasm anytime soon." He suckled her other nipple, biting it gently as she gasped and squirmed.

"Artemis! That's no fair!" she whined, breathily, her hips squirming under him.

"It's entirely fair. And even if it's not, it hardly matters. You're giving yourself to me, to do with as I please, whether it's fair or not." He glanced up at her for a moment, then began kissing down the front of her body again. "Right?"

"Ye-es, but…" she strained against her bonds as his tongue swirled around her navel, making her stomach muscles clench and her hips try to twist.

He pinned them down. "But nothing. You're mine now. And we both know you don't legitimately have a problem with this." He kissed across her hips. "Do you?"

"No," she whispered, sighing a little. He was right. And she really _could_ hold still; she just didn't want to.

"I know. Good girl." He nipped at her inner thigh, nuzzling her sex and inhaling softly. "Fuck, you smell amazing. I think I'll eat you at least once a day as long as we're still alive and together." He licked the full length of her slit, holding her hips still as he began to pry into her with his tongue.

She moaned, both from the action and his words, tilting her head back. "Artemis, gods… Please-"

He hummed into her, rewarding the plea with a swipe at her clit that made her gasp before continuing to explore her, tasting every inch of her labia before slowly pushing his tongue into her entrance. The feeling made her moans increase in volume and her toes curl, but it just wasn't enough for her to finish on, as he well knew.

He pulled away after a moment, kissing up her slit and watching her settle again, slower than before. "Artemis!" she whined desperately. "Please! You know I need more than that!"

"Hm…" He nuzzled the inside of her thigh. "Do you? Tell me what you need then."

She groaned and strained against her bonds again, arching and squirming as best she could. "My clit. Your tongue, fingers, anything! Please-"

"You know what I need?" He kissed up her leg. "I need you to answer my questions and tell me the truth."

"What?" she gasped. "Of course I will! I'd tell you anything! But gods…" She writhed against him.

"Do you still blame yourself?" he murmured.

"What? Yes. Of course I do." She closed her eyes. "I've always blamed myself for what happened to you, and I always will."

"You shouldn't. You need to stop. I've told you what would have happened - the same thing. It would have been unsatisfying as this pleasure - a great build up, but really did nothing for you or I in the end. No rescue, no stopping it, and no orgasm." He kissed down the other side.

"So that's it? You're not going to let me come until I say I don't blame myself?" She squeezed her eyes shut tight, panting a little at just the thought.

"No. I'm just not going to let you come until you tell me the real reason why you feel that way," he said simply. Then he turned back to her clit, parting her folds with his tongue again. "So you'd better talk," he whispered against her before starting to suck her clit, slowly, almost tenderly.

"Because- I-I-" she stopped and groaned, having trouble finding the right words as the pressure began to build and pleasure overruled most of her senses. "I-I've always felt that way! I've always been responsible for everything! It's my fault I'm such… trash… and just… not good enough. I never have been. I could never save anyone. Not you, or my parents, or…anyone." Her voice trembled by the end, both from strain and from emotion. "Gods, please, just… let me…"

Artemis decided he'd heard enough, and this time he kept sucking, teasing her little bud with the tip of his tongue until she came apart under him. He lapped up her juices softly and then pulled away, releasing her arms from the sash and drawing her until his lap, holding her until the tremors from her orgasm passed and she slowly came back to.

When she shifted and whined softly against him and he could tell she'd settled, he lowered his head to murmur in her ear. "How can someone who is so beautiful and selfless and skilled hate themselves so much?"

Holly flushed, looking down and hiding her face in his chest. "I...don't know," she whispered. "It's not all the time. But a lot of the time. I just…" She sighed and closed her eyes. "I have a history of depression," she admitted quietly. "Like, major depression. And when you disappeared…"

"I know," he cut in softly. He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. "How bad is major? Do I need to have you on suicide watch?"

Holly flinched. "N-no. Well, maybe before, but not now." She looked down. "I admit I didn't cope well. I never have. I usually managed by using work as a distraction. I've practically lived at the plaza lately. The only time I've taken any real breaks was…"

"Visiting my family," he completed. He sighed. "I'm sorry I stopped you. But you did really bring it on yourself, scaring and lying to an assassin."

"I didn't know you were an assassin. I didn't even know you were...well, you, until I got close enough." She shrugged, still not looking at him.

"Mhm." He tilted her head up, making her meet his eyes. She was trying to divert from the original topic, but he wasn't going to let her. "Holly. Were you suicidal? Before? Did you _try_ to kill yourself?"

Holly flinched again, pulling away. "How is that relevant when I said I'm not now? Why can't we just move on?"

"Because I need to know this stuff. And frankly, because I'm not entirely convinced." He pulled her back. "Did you?"

Holly sighed. "A long time ago, yes. Before you went missing. Can we please move on now?"

"If I wasn't missing, where was I?"

"Mindwiped!" Holly snapped, exasperated. "Now please-"

"Fine! Fine." He pulled her back into his chest, holding her close. "We won't talk about it anymore."

"Good." She leaned into him, snuggling into his chest. It was silent for a few minutes as he held her, stroking her hair while she laid against him, before she blurted, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" He was staring into space, his mind spinning with a million thoughts - of her, of his family, their options, their chances of living. He shook them away. "Ask me what?"

"Why'd you stop?" She glanced up at him. "You said upwards of ten, but that was more like four."

He chuckled softly when he realized she was talking about the denials, then shrugged. "Honestly? I had intended to, but we veered to more important things. Besides, I don't know if you're ready for all that. Or deserve it. Right now, anyway."

"Ready for it?" She scoffed a little. "I could handle it. I'm not a baby. I may whine when I don't get what I want, sometimes, but I've had some training of my own. I like it rough sometimes." She kissed his jaw.

"Training, have you?" He raised an eyebrow down at her. "I doubt it."

"I don't." She crossed her arms.

"And who, may I ask, _trained_ you?" He put emphasis on the word to show he wasn't taking it entirely seriously.

Holly punched him lightly in the chest. "I've had a boyfriend before, Mud Man. And he was no pushover, if I do say so myself. He was...pretty amazing, actually." She looked down.

"Then why were you not with said boyfriend?" He raised an eyebrow, then stopped. _Was_ she still with him? She'd said "was", not "is", so he'd assumed not, but…

She seemed to read his face and shook her head. "I wasn't with him. He lived in Atlantis, primarily, and I lived in Haven, so it just… didn't work out." She shrugged helplessly, then yawned suddenly, covering her mouth and turning away.

"I see," he said, after a moment's pause. Then he shrugged as well, letting it drop when she yawned. "Well, we can delve deeper into that another time. I'd like to hear more about this training, certainly," he smirked, kissing her softly before continuing, "But right now you should sleep. Get some rest." He started to pull away.

"By myself?" She caught his arm before he could shift completely away, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Artemis stopped. "I really need to shower, Holly. And we shouldn't sleep at the same time, just in case-"

"Then don't! Just stay with me until I fall asleep. Please." She bit her lip. "I have nightmares."

He sighed. "Alright. Fine." He settled back down next to her, letting her curl into his side and rest her head against his chest. "I'll lay with you. Just until you fall asleep."

"Okay. Night, Arty," she murmured, wholly unconcerned with his words, sounding half asleep already.

"Goodnight, Holly." He kissed her head, stroking her hair as she dozed off against him. He watched her for a while after she'd fallen asleep, deep in thought. Of course he'd noticed she had nightmares. She'd mumbled and whined and tossed and turned while she was sleeping a multitude of times. But what was he supposed to do about it?

And her history… He shook his head. He couldn't change it, but he wasn't going to let her hurt herself on his watch. He wasn't sure she was being entirely truthful - she was omitting things, he was certain. But he wasn't going to pressure her about it; not yet. Not until it became an issue.

But now… He pulled back, disentangling her from him gently, careful not to wake her. Very lightly, he angled her onto her back, brushing open the robe he'd never actually taken off gently.

They both had yet to get fully undressed around each other, and perhaps that was why he hadn't noticed her scars. But now that he looked, he was almost disappointed in himself he hadn't noticed earlier.

Her body was littered with scars, from the smallest of dots on her hip and her shoulder to the larger scars clearly from slices or burns she'd endured throughout the years. Her arms, particularly, were littered with so many light, interlacing scars that they were almost a shade lighter in spots than the rest of her skin. It almost hurt him to see it.

He closed her robe again gently and covered her up with the blankets again. It may have been an invasion of privacy, but it wasn't like he wouldn't see them or find out eventually, and he really needed to know.

He sighed and got up, kissing her hair. One thing was for sure; he was going to have his hands full with her. But he intended to enjoy every minute of it while it lasted.

He looked at her for a minute longer, then turned and left her alone to go get a shower.


End file.
